It’s been a while since I watched this, but I was watching the Tour de France earlier this year and felt the need to revisit. The Triplets in question are a 1920s singing cabaret act, but that’s getting ahead. Madam Souza lives with her young grandson and dog in rural France. This is very French. The dog, Bruno has been introduced to try and entertain the bored grandson. It sort of works, but not as well as a bike! There’s little dialogue, but the grotesquely styled animation is powerful. Time passes. Bruno gets fat, but the grandson gets stronger on the bike, training for the National obsession with the help of his grandmother. The training methods are wonderfully inventive, they’re a real DIY team, including Bruno, who in typical animated dog tradition is more human than the humans. The Tour if you’ve never watched it is quite a spectacle. Riders battling the picturesque French countryside, followed by a caravan of support, reporters and of course fans. The grandson, now grown up, is all muscle and sinew and leading the race. His support of course, his loving grandmother and Bruno. Until… sabotage! Madam Souza’s van is taken out by burly box shouldered bad boys in black and our hero cyclist is kidnapped! He may be a champion cyclist with enviable stamina, but he’s got that strength from his grandmother, who’ll go to epic lengths, launching a daringly defiant rescue on the streets of New York. It’s here she teams up with the Triplets, an equally resourceful and eccentric bunch, who help Madame Souza thwart the French mafia’s dastardly games. It’s fantastically creative, heartwarmingly funny and looks spectacular. A timeless piece of modern French cinema.
9/10
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