Product Details

• Actors: Odette Joyeux, François Périer, Pierre Larquey, Claude Marcy, Jean Desailly
• Format: Black & White, Original recording reissued, Subtitled, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 16, 2000
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630315459X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,267 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A poetic image on the passage from childhood to adulthood, May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sylvia and the Phantom [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Beyond the predictible premise of the movie lies a beautiful description of the transformation of a child into a young woman. The movie is in line with the classic quality of the WWII era french movies.The main and supporting actors are outstanding, and the dialogue is just delicious! A sweet treat for french speaking audience.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3-1/2 stars. A classic French fantasy w/ Jacques Tati., February 20, 2004

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sylvia and the Phantom [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A somewhat plodding and disjointed comedy-fantasy about a young girl (Odette Joyeux), who has a girlish romantic crush on the long-dead lover of her great-grandmother, a figure whose myth is central to her family history. Sylvia's father, a struggling nobleman who is pawning the furniture in his castle to throw a big bash for his daughter's 16th birthday/coming out party, sentimentally indulges her fantasies, even as he knows she must someday abandon them and join the real world. The great French comedian Jacques Tati stars as the spectre; he is in fact real, although no one can see him, not even the infatuated girl who loves him, and who has sat for many years gazing adoringly at the oil portrait which has housed his soul.

I can see why this film has captured so many people's hearts over the years -- there are several touching, lyrical passages which are particularly human and warm, but overall the movie is slow-moving and clumsy, and director Claude Autant-Lara never seems to know how to build the momentum to a proper speed. Plus, Joyeux's performance is somewhat unsatisfying and uncompelling; you never quite buy her character, or see her growth. The film's worth checking out, though perhaps not as great as some folks would have you believe.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet/Sad -- worth watching, September 5, 2002

By 

pwmeek "--Pete" (MI, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sylvia and the Phantom [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A chance to see Jacques Tati in a very early (1945) appearance. Silvie (Odette Joyeux) is turning 16. All her life she has dreamed of the family ghost (Tati) who died in a duel over her grandmother. Now, at 16, she is under pressure to leave childish things behind. Her father engages an actor to play the final appearance of the phantom. Arriving at the same time are a young man in love with Silvie, as well as a burgler. All three agree to play the phantom for their own reasons.

You can imagine the opportunities for confusion. (Don't forget the real phantom is running around this wonderful castle, too.) The scene is set, the birthday ball is about to begin...

Minor flaws like incomplete subtitles and the primitive special effects made me rate it a 4, but it probably deserves a 5.