[usr 4]
One night, a burglar in a Santa Claus costume is surprised by Victor, a young boy who believes he is the real Santa Claus. Victor then follows him, and they embark on an unexpected adventure that will change their lives.
“Santa Claus” is an adorable French Movie about Santa Claus or his slightly evil counterpart. Despite the necessity for English subtitles, the movie is well worth the watch and acted with panache. Director Alexandre Coffre and writers Rachel Palmieri plus Fabrice Carazzo pack a lot of emotion into a short eighty-minute movie. Tahar Rahim plays the hapless Santa and his young co-star is a new actor, Victor Cabal. The two made a great team full of laughter and poignancy.
In “Le Père Noël” (original title) – “Santa Claus” – on the night before Christmas a precocious six-year-old wishes for a visit from Santa and his sleigh from his apartment window. Out of nowhere, a Santa shows up on the boy’s balcony, hoping to take a little gold instead of leaving a few presents. Antoine refuses to leave the burglar alone to continue thieving the apartment complex and chases after the twenty-something guy with a white beard, unbeknownst to his mother. Despite faux Santa’s lack of reindeer, sleigh, and jolly belly, Antoine is beyond certain this is the infamous Saint Nick, delivering presents around the world.
When the boy chases after Santa and ends up on a train, the police take notice of the off-kilter Claus and investigate. Thinking he can assist Santa as an apprentice, the boy agrees to lie to the police and play the son to fend the cops off the burglar’s scent. With the boy in tow as his assistant, the fake Santa continues climbing from rooftop to rooftop, searching for gold to pay off the boogeyman. Now he has a child willing to use a walkie-talkie and follow instructions to find the gold for him. The duo make out like bandits, literally, but get caught by the boogeyman and need to toss him off their tail.
Along the way, the young apprentice picks up clues that the man training him to be a thief is not the hero he expected. Though Santa did manage to produce a sleigh to convince the boy, his telepathic powers are on the fritz and Santa doesn’t remember a word from the boy’s letter or about the important change in the boy’s life over the last year. Despite it all, the boy finds what he is looking for and the fake Claus finds what he never knew he needed.
The boy melted my heart. His giant doe-eyes, not to mention the adorable French accents – everything is better with an accent – were just so endearing. He played his part well even if he was whiny like most six-year-olds are these days. Either way, when you watch the movie you will understand why the boy melted the burglar’s heart too. Not that melting the guy’s heart was all that difficult. While he was a thief, he seemed fairly decent after a while, except for when he put the boy in a trash can. Overall, the movie plucks all the right heartstrings and brings about a wonderful sense of Christmas Joy. Most American children probably will not want to watch the movie as it may diffuse some of their belief in the mythical man in red. I would love to see this again and think I need to check out Tahar’s other movies, he has a presence on-screen that is undeniable. Don’t let the subtitles stop you from watching this fabulous holiday flick that rivals “Home Alone.”
Available on VOD December 17th
