Friday, December 24, 2021

I Believe in Santa Claus (1984)

A Christmas movie with a bit of a difference. Simon (Emeric Chapulis) is sad for a number of reasons, including being bullied at school, menaced by the evil caretaker and because his parents are missing in Africa. He writes his letter to Santa asking for him to bring them back. When he and his friend Elodie (Alexia Haudrot) end up on a plane to Lapland, he gets to meet Santa (Armand Meffre) and ask him to help for real!

Santa goes to Africa (this isn't narrowed down any, let's face is "Africa" is quite a big place) with the Good Fairy (Karen Chéryl) - who also looks rather like Simon's teacher at school, must be a coincidence. Once in Africa, Santa and the Fairy discover Simon's parents are being held hostage by some rebels. To get them freed, Santa needs the help of some children with guns (yes this is a strange Christmas movie!) Meanwhile, in Lapland Simon and Elodie have wandered off and are about to be eaten by an Evil Ogre (Dominique Hulin)!

Although a bit odd at times, this is a lovely Christmas movie which doesn't overdo the saccharine. Karen Chéryl also provides a number of musical numbers in her various guises.