Line #25 WesternAnimation/TheOldLadyAndThePigeons


1	[[quoteright:294:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/la_vieille_dame_et_les_pigeons14.jpg]]
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3	''The Old Lady and the Pigeons'' (a.k.a: ''La Vieille Dame et les Pigeons'') is a 1997 animated ShortFilm written and directed by Creator/SylvainChomet. It tells the surreal story of a starving gendarme [[PaperThinDisguise who dresses up as a pigeon]] and tricks an old lady into feeding him.
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5	The film was produced through the French company Les Armateurs and was Chomet's debut film. It won several awards including the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
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8	!!''The Old Lady and the Pigeons'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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10	* AlcoholHic: The gendarme hiccups after guzzling down several bottles of wine at Christmas.
11	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: The gendarme is not a very nice man and ends up much worse off than when the short starts.]]
12	* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler: At the end, the gendarme seems to have become a pigeon mentally.]]
13	* BookEnds: Begins and ends with a gaggle of American tourists talking outside the Eiffel Tower.
14	* CatapultNightmare: The gendarme has one in which he tries to eat some of the food that the old lady throws on the ground, only for [[spoiler: a group of man-sized pigeons wearing suits to approach him, hold him down, and peck him repeatedly on the chest]].
15	* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: The maid that the gendarme passes every day shows up at the end as the old lady's "cat".]]
16	* DreamSequence: The gendarme has one where he dreams he gets eaten by monstrous, human-sized pigeons wearing suits.
17	* ForeShadowing: At the Christmas dinner, the gendarme sees a picture of the old lady when she was younger, laying on a couch with several very fat cats.
18	* FoodPorn: The food the old lady cooks looks pretty delicious.
19	* ImAHumanitarian: One way to interperet [[spoiler: the old woman pursuing the gendarme even after he shows her his human foot: she knew all along and was just humoring him to fatten him up easier.]]
20	* JerkAss: The gendarme is very rude to the old lady even after she welcomes him into her home and cooks complicated dishes for him.
21	* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: The old lady is so short her head is barely higher than the seat of a bench.
22	* MindScrew: It's that kind of movie and considering the creator's [[WesternAnimation/TheTripletsOfBelleville other]] [[WesternAnimation/TheIllusionist2010 works]] it's pretty understandable.
23	* NationalStereotypes: The film begins showcasing some photos taken by a family of obese, obnoxious American tourists.
24	* NeverMessWithGranny: Or she will [[spoiler: come after you with shears and try to feed you to her cat!]]
25	* NoNameGiven: None of the characters are named except some of the American tourists.
26	* OhCrap: The gendarme gets one when [[spoiler: he sees the old woman sharpening her shears and realizes just what she intends to do with them...]]
27	* PinkElephants: While drunk, the gendarme hallucinates that the old woman has turned into a turkey.
28	* SilenceIsGolden: There's no dialogue spoken throughout most of the short. The gendarme is completely silent and the old woman only "speaks" in vague mumbles. Though this is averted by the American tourists who [[BookEnds Book End]] it.
29	* TheVoiceless: The only characters that speak in the short are the American tourists. Everyone else is either silent or only "talks" in vague sighs and mumbles.
30	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The old lady doesn't have any issue with what she sees as either a) a giant pigeon or b) a man dressed up as a giant pigeon showing up where she lives. She just invites him in and offers him some slippers like any other guest. [[spoiler: Of course, she [[MagnificentBastard may have known all along.]]]]

Context WesternAnimation / TheOldLadyAndThePigeons