Fantôme avec chauffeur (1996)

Waste of time

Thanks for the memories!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is was fairly new movie at the time of writing so it is surprising that it appeared on SBS when movies like Police Story II have only just been shown on World Movies (though I do not have it which is really irritating). Anyway, this movie is probably average compared to movies like City of Lost Children and La Visiteurs. Still I thought that it was quite entertaining. Like a lot of similar movies, it actually became funnier the more into the movie you go where as American movies seem to be funny at the start and die for the rest of the movie. The cute part was where the Chauffeur, Georges, goes into a ladies change room and watches the ladies change and his boss says, " do you have no shame after death?" with the reply, "No,". And he is then dragged out only to follow another woman into some more change rooms.It is an interesting look at death, though one which is theologically wrong. God was not mentioned once, nor was the saving act of Christ Jesus, yet the two main characters, Georges and Fillipe, both went to heaven at the end, while the bad guy, Edouard, went to hell. Even though Georges and Fillipe were bad, they were not the bad guy so they were allowed to go to heaven whereas Edouard was a murderer and thus had to go to hell. Thus this movie seems to suggest that shady business practices, adultery, and bigamy, are okay and if you commit these acts you will still go to heaven while murder will send you to hell. No act of forgiveness. It is true that your life dictates what happens to you in death, but the whole theology is wrong.That was my explanation and one may say I am a killjoy because of this. I did not hate the movie but am irritated when the good guy, bad guy, distinction is created where in reality it does not exist. With characters like Batman in the Tim Burton movies we see a good guy bordering on the edge of evil and struggling very much with his dark side.After death all of your actions in life come to light. This is one thing that is brought out in this movie. It is not a philosophical or theological movie, more just entertainment, but I think that such ideas should be raised. After death we are confronted with what we have done in life. Not in the way this movie portrays it, and this movie does not hold them responsible for their actions in life. Instead others suffer for the actions of those who have died. For example, Georges smuggles drugs into France from Belgium and leaves them in the car. He is killed and the drug dealers smash up his wife's house looking for them, and then Fillipe's son is arrested and charged with smuggling when he smashes the car carrying the drugs. There is no responsibility in this movie and no judgement. True we are confronted by our actions -- Man is destined to die once and then face judgement, but we are held responsible for our actions. Christ is our attorney who can acquit us, if we choose to take him or not. What we need to realise, is that the rejection of God is the greatest sin of all.

An industrialist and his chauffer are murdered, one by mistake, one on purpose. No time to cry. Their fantomes become visible in a matter of seconds. That leads to a relationship in which the industrialist tries to maintain the class distinction, not very succesfully. We get to see the family relationships and the intricate net of sexual shenanigans. The young son of the tycoon is the only one who really mourns and gets involved in a chase with the murderer. Excellent special effects with fantomes that can go through things or are being gone through. Very beautiful sequence in wich the characters get into a video game with Egyptian decors. Light and funny.