''Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre'' (french: Belphégor – Le fantôme du Louvre) is a 2001 French
fantasy film
Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction ...
directed by
Jean-Paul Salomé
Jean-Paul Salomé (born 14 September 1960) is a French director and screenwriter.
Filmography
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salome, Jean-Paul
1960 births
Living people
Film directors from Paris
French male screenwriters
French ...
. It stars
Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and '' La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising A ...
,
Michel Serrault,
Frédéric Diefenthal, and
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...
.
It was written by Salomé,
Danièle Thompson
Danièle Thompson (born 3 January 1942) is a Monegasque film director and screenwriter. Thompson is the daughter of film director Gérard Oury, and actress Jacqueline Roman.
She has written screenplays for a number of highly successful films i ...
, and Jérôme Tonnerre. The 2001 film is about a mummy's spirit that possesses a woman (Marceau) in
the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the '' Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A centra ...
. ''Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre'' was filmed on location at the
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, the first feature film to be shot in part inside the world-famous museum.
Source material
This adaptation was loosely based upon the 1927
Arthur Bernède
Arthur Bernède (5 January 1871 – 20 March 1937) was a French writer, poet, opera librettist, and playwright.
Bernède was born in Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine department, in Brittany.
In 1919, Bernède joined forces with actor René Navarre, who ...
horror novel ''
Belphégor'', which had appeared in concert with a film serial version of the story. A television
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...
had appeared in 1965.
Plot
A rare collection of artifacts from an archeological dig in Egypt are brought to the famous
Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in Paris. While experts are using a laser scanning device to determine the age of a sarcophagus, a spirit escapes and makes its way into the museum's electrical system. Museum curator Faussier (
Jean-Francois Balmer) brings in noted Egyptologist, Glenda Spencer (
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...
), to examine the findings, and she announces that the mummy inside the coffin was actually the evil spirit
Belphegor
In Christian demonology, Belphegor (or Beelphegor, he, בַּעַל-פְּעוֹר ''Báʿal-pəʿór'' - Lord of the Gap) is a demon. In later Kabbalah Belphegor is a demon who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to ...
.
Meanwhile, Lisa (
Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and '' La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising A ...
), a young woman who lives across the street from the museum, follows her runaway cat into the Louvre after closing time. She accidentally receives an electrical shock that transfers the stray spirit into her body. Soon Lisa is disguising herself as Belphegor and making off with the rare Egyptian treasures on display at the museum, convinced that they are rightfully hers. When Belphegor proves more than a match for the Louvre's security forces, renowned detective Verlac (
Michel Serrault) is brought out of retirement to find out why the museum's Egyptian collection has been shrinking.
Cast
*
Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and '' La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising A ...
as Lisa / Belphegor
*
Michel Serrault as Verlac
*
Frédéric Diefenthal as Martin
*
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...
as Glenda Spender
*
Jean-François Balmer
Jean-François Balmer (born April 18, 1946 in Valangin) is a Swiss actor. He has worked extensively in French cinema, television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sou ...
as Bertrand Faussier
* Patachou as Geneviève
*
Lionel Abelanski
Lionel Abelanski (born 22 October 1964) is a French actor.
Life and career
Abelanski was born in Paris, France. He has appeared in television and film roles since 1989. In 1999 he was nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actor for ...
as Simonnet
*
Françoise Lépine
Françoise Lépine is a French actress.
Theatre
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
French film actresses
Living people
20th-century French actresses
21st-century French actresses
Year of birth missing (living people)
P ...
as Suzanne Dupré
*
François Levantal
François Levantal (born 14 October 1960) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1986.
Filmography
Theater
Music videos
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levantal, Francois
1960 births
Living people
F ...
as Mangin
* Jacques Martial as Félix
* Philippe Maymat as Bob
* Pierre Aussedat as Pierre Desfontaines
* Matteo Vallon as Cemetery employee
* Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat as Cemetery warden
*
Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco (; 7 February 1927 – 23 September 2020) was a French singer and actress. Her best known songs are "Paris Canaille" (1962, originally sung by Léo Ferré), "La Javanaise" (1963, written by Serge Gainsbourg for Gréco) and "Désh ...
as Woman in the cemetery
Reception
Critical response
Critical reception for ''Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre'' has been mostly negative. Justin Felix from
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
gave the film a mixed two and a half out of five stars, writing, "''Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre'' is modestly entertaining, despite some very familiar plot elements and so-so CGI work."
Chris Parry from ''eFilmCritic'' awarded the film two out of five stars, panning the film's acting, special effects, screenplay, and familiar premise.
Steve Barton from
Dread Central
Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website ...
rated the film two and a half out of five stars, writing, "For all that it has going for it in the acting department, ''Belphégor Phantom of the Louvre'' comes up on the short side of the fence nearly everywhere else. It's a decent little time killer, but you'll ultimately start forgetting about it even before the end credits run."
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Jean-Paul Salomé
2000s French-language films
2001 horror films
2001 fantasy films
French dark fantasy films
Films set in Paris
French ghost films
Films based on horror novels
Films about spirit possession
Films based on French novels
Films based on television series
2001 films
Films directed by Jean-Paul Salomé
Films set in museums
Films produced by Alain Sarde
Films scored by Bruno Coulais
2000s French films