I saw this at MIFF recently and can say with all certainty that Fantasma is one of the most utterly pointless and boring films I have ever seen. I am a big fan of films that challenge the nature of cinema, and have always loved films that give you time to think and explore the frame. Fantasma, however, has absolutely nothing to offer the viewer, and the harder you look, the more frustrated you become.
It's like having a "Where's Waldo" book of page after page of people standing still and doing nothing, none of whom are Waldo. It's not Antonioni, Angelopoulos or even Warhol. There's nothing going on in this film, textually or subtextually, and has no creative or technical merit beyond the fact that Alsonso was somehow able to dupe you into watching it.
It's like having a "Where's Waldo" book of page after page of people standing still and doing nothing, none of whom are Waldo. It's not Antonioni, Angelopoulos or even Warhol. There's nothing going on in this film, textually or subtextually, and has no creative or technical merit beyond the fact that Alsonso was somehow able to dupe you into watching it.