Abubilla Music

Swinging Belleville rendez-vous

Written by Imogen

The sky has turned grey and there’s a threat in the air.  It’s there when I walk home from the station.  It was there this morning when I sat on the train.  It’s even slightly inside the office…it’s time for another round of Autumn days.

Autumn days aren’t all cold and grey though.  They bring with them my favourite type of film and lots of curling up on the sofa at the weekend versus sitting in the summer sun strewn pub. I was never cut out for the sun. Give me a rainy November day and I am frizzy haired smiles.

The films I love most are normally animations. My flat, though small, is filled with framed cartoons, Japanese anime and, my current favourite, a page of comic strips from a 1920s Parisian newspaper bought in the rain during a cold December walk along the Seine.

Needless to say I saw this in the Metro last week and squealed (to the alarm of the guy in the seat gently snoring next to me)

This latest French animation is by Sylvain Chomet who also animated and directed Belleville Rendezvous. Both of these films have stunning scores with the music and background sounds providing a stunning setting for the pretty pictures on the screen – the dialogue is minimal and ultimately unnecessary. When I watch Belleville Rendezvous I end up singing the main song for hours afterwards. The chorus is full of catchy French rhymes and childlike glee:

Swinging Belleville rendez-vous
Marathon dancing doum dilouuu
Vaudou Cancan, balais tabouuu
Au Belleville swinging rendez-vous

If you haven’t seen it and are starting to feel the turn in the seasons then grab a bottle of warmed red wine, a box of dark chocolate truffles, turn the lights down low and snuggle into your sofa.

And I am getting very excited about the Illusionist. Shame there isn’t a cinema near me brave enough to show this film.