With only six feature films to his name, four of which featured his iconic onscreen alter ego, the cinema of Jacques Tati remains an island of unique delight despite his influence on decades of filmmakers since and comparative efforts of peers from his own period (considering Marguerite Duras’ critique, now widely accepted, concerning the taken-for-granted stylistic likeness between Tati and Robert Bresson, a director whose subject matters were a bit less pleasant or comical). Without Tati and his bumbling character Monsieur Hulot, sputtering about memorably in a series of some of the most well-crafted moments of ingenious, highly organized chaos ever put to celluloid, we’d be without latter day influences, like Roy Andersson, Otar Iosseliani, several Peter Sellers characters, and even Rowan Atkinson’s similarly crafted Mr. Bean.
At the time, Tati’s obvious influences date back to the silent era, where Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin crafted the...
At the time, Tati’s obvious influences date back to the silent era, where Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin crafted the...
- 11/11/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The first entry into my "Best Movies" section was Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (read my essay here) and after rights to the film were finally decided I speculated as to whether or not Criterion will finally get their hands on the absolute classics. The answer is a resounding Yes as the Blu-ray release of the film has just been announced for October 21 with the following features: New 4K digital restoration by the Film Foundation, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray New visual essay by : : kogonada New interview with filmmaker Lina Wertmuller, who worked as assistant director on the film Scholar David Forgacs discusses the period in Italy's history when the film was made New interview with Italian film journalist Antonello Sarno about the outlandish fashions seen in the film Audio interview with actor Marcello Mastroianni from the early 1960s, conducted by film historian Gideon Bachmann Felliniana,...
- 7/15/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Jacques Tati was a master of burlesque. Emilie Bickerton on a French revolutionary
If you told Jacques Tati that his flight was delayed, he'd say terrific – and settle down to watch what he considered "the best movie of the year": people passing by. Observation gave the director all the material he needed for the four films he made over three decades. Tati liked to call himself "the Don Quixote of cinema", which captures his combination of idealism, imagination and generosity. Monsieur Hulot, his charming, self-effacing but out-of-synch comic creation, is the character with whom he is most often, and fondly, associated. But Tati's work cannot be reduced to the man with the too-short trousers. His films – from the early burlesque of Jour de fête in 1949 to the highly stylised modernism of Play Time in 1967 – might not have an intellectual message, but they are delightful witnesses to the second half...
If you told Jacques Tati that his flight was delayed, he'd say terrific – and settle down to watch what he considered "the best movie of the year": people passing by. Observation gave the director all the material he needed for the four films he made over three decades. Tati liked to call himself "the Don Quixote of cinema", which captures his combination of idealism, imagination and generosity. Monsieur Hulot, his charming, self-effacing but out-of-synch comic creation, is the character with whom he is most often, and fondly, associated. But Tati's work cannot be reduced to the man with the too-short trousers. His films – from the early burlesque of Jour de fête in 1949 to the highly stylised modernism of Play Time in 1967 – might not have an intellectual message, but they are delightful witnesses to the second half...
- 12/5/2009
- The Guardian - Film News
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