Ironically, his fortunes changed following the Nazi invasion of France, as the films he made during the German occupation proved popular, and useful as escapist entertainment for his countrymen. Collected under the banner of Criterion\u2019s Eclipse series, these Four Romantic Escapes from Occupied France<\/a> span the years from 1942 to 1946, culminating in Sylvie et le fant\u00f4me<\/em>, an enchanting fantasy to rival Jean Cocteau\u2019s La Belle et la B\u00eate<\/em><\/a>, released the same year and produced under similarly trying circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the first three films in the Eclipse set are all set squarely in the past (during the Belle \u00c9poque and the reign of Napoleon III), Sylvie<\/em> is decidedly a product of the 20th century, albeit one at a remove from the recent hostilities. Sylvie<\/em> doesn\u2019t have a hostile bone in its body, and neither does its fant\u00f4me<\/em>, who is wordlessly embodied (or perhaps that should be disembodied) by Jacques Tati in his first feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the film opens, the soon-to-be 16-year-old Sylvie is regaling her friends with the tragic story of Alain de Francigny, whose portrait they\u2019re admiring. Nicknamed \u201cThe White Hunter,\u201d Alain has captured Sylvie\u2019s heart to such an extent she can\u2019t imagine marrying someone made of flesh and blood. Unbeknownst to her, Sylvie\u2019s father the Baron sells the portrait to an antiques dealer, but as it\u2019s being carried off, its subject\u2019s ghost emerges from the crate along with that of his dog, the namesake of Sylvie\u2019s own pet Pyramus, the castle\u2019s only occupant (apart from Sylvie) able to sense their presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early going, Autant-Lara and screenwriter Jean Aurenche (a frequent collaborator and one of Truffaut\u2019s other targets) concoct various ways for Alain to interact with the living \u2013 blowing out a match or holding out his hand to prevent Sylvie from blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. He also has the ability to pass through walls and floors, which allows him to watch over Sylvie. It soon comes to pass, however, that he has not one, but two potential romantic rivals.<\/p>\n\n\n The first is Frederick, the son of the antiques dealer, who feels bad about how his father takes advantage of the Baron\u2019s money woes. The second is Ramure, a thief who sneaks into Sylvie\u2019s bedroom on the eve of her birthday and steals her cameo \u2013 one of the few things of value she owns \u2013 only sticking around to avoid the cops trailing him. When both are mistaken for actors hired by the Baron to play the ghost at Sylvie\u2019s party, they realize there\u2019s more to the job than merely making a girl happy, as her father puts it: \u201cFor a few hours, I\u2019d like you to be the individual a 16-year-old girl dreams of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once Frederick and Ramure consent to share the part \u2013 and are joined by the actor who was actually hired to do it \u2013 the film reaches its lyrical peak as they take turns donning the Christian Dior-designed hooded shrouds and appearing to Sylvie and her guests. Even Alain gets in on the act, borrowing one of the actors\u2019 costumes so he can actually be seen by the young woman whose feelings he reciprocates. It\u2019s a moment the whole narrative has built up to, and Autant-Lara, Aurenche, Tati, and Odette Joyeux (who plays Sylvie despite being twice as old as her character) pull it off beautifully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Released on February 6, 1946, less than a year after the end of the war, Sylvie et le fant\u00f4me<\/em> was the light entertainment the people of France needed to forget their hardships, and it can serve a similar purpose today, provided modern-day viewers are willing to suspend their disbelief. (While not credible as a teenager, Joyeux has a sweet na\u00efvet\u00e9 that can be hard to resist.) Meanwhile, the in-camera effects used to insert Tati\u2019s ghostly image into his scenes are still impressive, proving the simplest solutions are sometimes the most effective. Not only is Sylvie<\/em> the crown jewel of Autant-Lara\u2019s Eclipse set, it\u2019s a high-water mark for poetic fantasy that\u2019s worthy of a higher profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Autant-Lara\u2019s films continued to be popular in the postwar years, but his career tapered off as the French New Wave came into vogue and his style of filmmaking fell out of favor. He also made a sharp rightward turn when he entered politics in his later years, but that\u2019s not the part of his life to dwell upon. Better to remember the charming films he made when that quality wasn\u2019t considered a liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSylvie et le fant\u00f4me\u201d can be conjured up on the <\/em>Criterion Channel<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/sylvie2-1024x768.jpeg\")
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