[ This review was originally published here ]

I've seen a few animation films in my life, but "The Triplets of Belleville" is easily the weirdest of them all. There's something of Lynch about it that I just can't quite pinpoint. It is the perfect adaptation of the film-noir genre to the animation scene and the plot (or lack thereof) is developed under a gloomy, grim, dark and intriguing atmosphere.

The film seems to work on many layers and I honestly can't come up with a rational explanation for it, not on a single viewing anyway. I'd be interested in seeing it again, now that the initial weirdness is gone. But something tells me this is something to be experienced more than to be understood.

If you like out-of-the-ordinary stuff in unusual mediums, and in addition somewhat depressing, eerie cartoons somehow connected to the Tour de France sounds like a good idea, then this French animation film is for you.