Phantom Boy
Description
The creative team behind Oscar® nominee A Cat in Paris (SFIFF 2011) returns with another beautifully rendered urban adventure that is part family drama, part noir detective story, part supernatural thriller, part childhood fantasy and all colorfully impressionistic animation. While that earlier film gave us the rooftops and steeples of modern Paris, Phantom Boy is set amongst New York City’s skyscrapers, the lights of Times Square and the Statue of Liberty. Here, as 11-year-old Leo undergoes treatment for cancer, a mad villain with a disfigured face straight out of a Picasso painting threatens to destroy the city with a lethal computer virus. Though stuck in the hospital, Leo’s illness has afforded him a special superpower that allows him to leave his body and fly throughout the city—and through walls—as an invisible phantom of himself. This comes in handy when he teams up with an intrepid cop and a plucky newspaper reporter (voiced by Audrey Tautou) to try to find the Man with the Broken Face and subvert his nefarious plan. From on high, Leo not only tracks criminals but also bears witness to how his family is coping with his illness, yet Phantom Boy nimbly eschews pathos for a more meaningful message of freedom, empowerment and young courage. Recommended for ages 9 and up. —Joanne Parsont
Jean-Loup Felicioli was born in Albertville, France, in 1960 and studied painting at the Schools of Fine Arts in Annecy, Strasbourg, Perpignan and Valencia before joining the animation studio Folimage in 1987. With Alain Gagnol, he co-directed several short films and the animated feature film A Cat in Paris (SFIFF 2011), which was nominated for both a César and an Academy Award.
Alain Gagnol was born in Roanne, France, in the Loire Valley in 1967. He studied at the École Émile Cohl in Lyon and began working in animation at the Folimage studio in 1988. With Jean-Loup Felicioli, he co-directed several short films and the animated feature film A Cat in Paris (2010), which was nominated for both a César and an Academy Award.
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/157228608?autoplay=1Film Details
Language French
Year 2015
Runtime 84
Country France/Belgium
Director Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli
Producer Jacques-Rémy Girerd
Writer Alain Gagnol
Editor Hervé Guichard
Cinematographer Izu Troin
Music Serge Besset
Cast Audrey Tautou, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Édouard Baer