Review for Jacques Tati Collection

Quel génie! Jacques Tati’s comedic legacy puts him alongside some of the greats. Indeed, he was a great admirer of Chaplin, Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy – and Keaton himself observed that, although Tati was making movies well into the era of the ‘talkies’, that ““Tati began where we finished”. Despite being very French in some ways, his comedy remains absolutely universal in that it is never really the comedy of language, but rather the comedy of gesture. In other words, you don’t need know yer actual French to laugh aloud at his movies.


This set really is the motherload. I can’t recall the last time I gave a release a full ten out ten rating but I suspect it was a few years ago. This set deserves every point. It contains all six of his features, beautifully restored and looking better than ever in HD, but also featuring alternative versions, unseen shorts and literally hours of extra features.



If you’re a Tati fan then you may have already acquired the excellent BFI DVD set, and perhaps the consequent single disc release of ‘Trafic’. You might have also acquired Hulot and Mon Oncle and others on Blu-Ray. If you have the DVD set then the upgraded image quality alone should be enough to persuade you to upgrade. But putting that to one side, this is currently the only way that you’ll get Trafic and Parade on Blu-Ray – issued in that format for the first time here. It’s also the only way you’ll get to see the various shorts and extras that make up this set – quite possibly the most significant release of 2014 thus far.



For most, Tati will be most clearly associated with the utterly hilarious Monsieur Hulot, a blissfully amiable and somewhat bungling middle-aged man, somewhat gangly but always polite. Complete chaos follows his every move though he stays generally unaware of that. Watching Hulot’s Holiday again made me realise that many owe him a huge debt. Erik Sykes screen presence is not dissimilar and there would have been no Mr.Bean without his influence – though neither has the sublime subtlety of Tati in my view.


Watching this set in its entirety, the casual, unhurried amiability belies the incredibly meticulous planning that has gone into the film’s designs and sets, the scripts and gags, the filming and the addition of sublime soundtracks with gentle spot effects and perfectly placed scores. Indeed, much of what is included can only be seen as genius. ‘Mon Oncle’ for example, is almost impossibly perfect.


JOUR DE FÊTE (1949)

A festive day in Sainte-Sévère: the fairground entertainers have arrived, accompanied by their caravans, a merry-go-round and even a travelling cinema, showing the awe-struck villagers a documentary on the modern methods of the American postal service. With his old bicycle and single-minded resolve, François, the local postman (Jacques Tati) does his best to emulate his American colleagues.

The film is a quieter, gentler film than later outings but all the hallmarks are there. Tati plays an earnest postman who is both gullible and popular in his tiny village. Its best laughs come as the more worldly show travellers try to convince him to use a ridiculous but new method of cycling to speed up his round and beat the American’s at their own game.

You get the original black and white 1949 version which features numerous different shots. Also new to this set is Tati's partially hand-coloured 1964 version. Apparently he always wished the film could have been in colour from the outset. He also adds new shots which, try as they might, just don’t quite gel with the material shot years earlier. Like a painting, tati never really accepted any versions of his films as final.

There is also an English language option which isn’t nearly as bad as it might sound.

The key extra feature is a documentary called “American Style”’, an analytical film by Stéphane Goudet (1h21) which shows the huge influence of American post-war culture on the much poorer Europe. It’s a bit lengthy and ponderous but certainly helps give some context. A trailer for the film is also included.

Blu-Ray tech specs (64/94): Cert: PG / Region B / Total Running Time: 80/76 mins approx / Colour Pochoid/Colour / Feature Aspect Ratio: 16/9 1.33 / Feature Audio: DTS HD Master Audio Mono 2.0/Mono 2.0 / French Language / English Subtitles

LES VACANCES DE M.HULOT (1953)

At a seaside resort on the Atlantic coast, the city dwellers on vacation continue with their city ways. The childlike and accident-prone Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) arrives in his backfiring old car, unintentionally destroying the tranquillity of his fellow patrons at the Hôtel de la Plage by simply trying to make the most of his holidays.

If you have never seen this film you really need to. Laugh aloud moments include a policeman stopping Hulot in his bizarre little car and being jettisoned into the water; Hulot inadvertently setting off a mass of fireworks, or crowds of travellers changing platforms at a train station but hundreds of small gags and observations too – like Hulot drying his back with a towel which actually I sdraped around a pole behind him. Actually, you need to see it to get it! Sublime and brilliant and a film that you could watch a hundred times and see something new in it.

There is another contextual documentary , “Good Weather, Light Wind”, an analytical film by Stéphane Goudet; again a little earnest but excellent for those who appreciate a more analytical approach to film-watching.

Blu-Ray tech specs (53/78): Cert: U / Region B/ Total Running Time: 183 mins approx / B&W / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 / Feature Audio: DTS HD Master Audio Mono 2.0/Mono 2.0 / French Language / English Subtitles



MON ONCLE (1958)

Mr and Mrs Arpel live in a remarkably modern house in a bland, clean neighbourhood. In this excessively controlled universe there is no room for play, chance or humour, and their son Gérard is bored. However the calm is broken with the sudden eruption of his eccentric misfit uncle, Monsieur Hulot, Madame Arpel’s brother. His family and entourage resent his whimsicality, especially as he becomes a role model for Gérard.

From the outset, this scathing critique of the changing values in French society following the war and with a growth of prosperity, is perfectly formed. Nothing is left to chance. It’s also utterly hilarious, occasionally veering into the same kind of demented surrealism used by Bunuel when critiquing the rising classes. It’s also laugh aloud funny of course! Tati represents the old guard, a scruffy uncle still living in the shabby side of town, whose nephew enjoys his company better than his father’s despite the fact that he comes from a wealthy home.

There are a couple of extra analytical features here: “Everything Communicates” which is a more general piece about Mon Oncle and a separate focus on the set designs, “Everything Is Beautiful”, both by Stéphane Goudet.

Blu-Ray tech specs (58 US/58 FRA): Cert: U / Region B / Total Running Time: 220 mins approx / Colour / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 / Feature Audio: DTS HD Master Audio Mono 2.0/ Mono 2.0 / English & French Language / English & French Subtitles

PLAYTIME (1967)

Considered by many to be his masterpiece, PlayTime was the most ambitious yet risky and expensive work of Tati’s career. Monsieur Hulot is set on meeting an American official in the hope of securing a job in a high tech version of Paris. Whilst on his way he encounters a group of female American tourists, resulting in all manner of chaos.

Combining the best of several of his films, particularly continuing the themes set in Mon Oncle, it could be argues that this is his finest moment where all the classic Tati elements converge into a perfectly formed package. Of course, it looks great too!

Extras include another film by Stéphane Goudet “Like Home”, and a commentary with commentary by Jérôme Deschamps and Stéphane Goudet.

Blu-Ray tech specs: Cert: PG / Region B / Total Running Time: 124 mins approx / Colour / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 / Feature Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 / French Language / English Subtitles

TRAFIC (1971)

Monsieur Hulot, the designer of an experimental camper van, takes it on the motorways of France and Belgium en route to the Amsterdam motor show where his prototype is to be exhibited. But, with numerous breakdowns and mechanical problems, not to mention a customs search and an accident, the road to Amsterdam is long and perilous. Will Hulot and his camper van ever make it to the show?

Very much a road-movie, Tati was clearly reflecting the absurdity of the world’s obsession with cars. There is something very charming about the corporate angle here as he makes his way towards a motor show with all his exhibitory in tow.

The only extra is interview with film critic Jonathan Romney.

Blu-Ray tech specs: Cert: PG / Region B / Total Running Time: 98 mins approx / Colour / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 / Feature Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 / French Language / English Subtitles



PARADE (1974)

At the Stockholm Cirkus, Tati revives his pantomimes in a wild, interactive circus show. Playing the compére, Monsieur Loyal, he links numbers by musicians, jugglers, magicians and acrobats. Although it was a commission from Swedish television mostly shot on video, Parade was conceived as a film to be shown theatrically. Tati uses it to transmit his experience to a younger generation of artists. As the spectacle unfolds, barriers break down between past and future, between artists, between technicians and spectators. Tati’s last film resonates as a joyful tribute to live spectacle, while evoking his own beginnings in the music hall.

‘Parade’ sits outside his other films somewhat as its format is quite different, and some of the footage less then perfect. Clearly a relatively low-budget piece, it nonetheless reflects something of Tati’s spirit as well as his continued obsession with music hall and circus’s.

“In the Ring”, an analytical film by Stéphane Goudet
Blu-Ray tech specs: Cert: U / Region B / Total Running Time: 90 mins approx / Colour / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 / Feature Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 / French Language / English Subtitles



LES COURTS MÉTRAGES

This collection of short films should be savoured last as they need to be viewed with context firmly in mind. After all, these were not necessarily Tati films as such – just films where he had some part to play.

The earliest of these, featuring the Tati / Rhum partnership are rather standard comedic fare, not at all as you would expect from Tati alone. In Demande une Brute (1934) with a plot better suited to Abbot & Costello, Tati unwittingly signs up to a sparring match with Krotov the Tartar, winning only with some sneaky help from his partner. In Gai Dimanche (1935), the duo buy an old banger to take tourists on tours of a Château – a somewhat funnier piece showing some early signs of trademark Tati.
Then you get some unseen shorts from the 1970s. Football fans will love Forza Bastia 78, a collaboration between Tati and his daughter, Sophie Tatischeff, which is simply a documentary about the Corsican football team, Bastia, playing PSV Eindhoven in Furiani in the first leg of the leg of the 1978 UEFA Cup final. Not much football, but plenty of trademark people observation in a fast-moving, classic cinema support short.

Degustation Maison is daughter Sophie Tatischeff's short film made in the small town of Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre thirty years after her father’s wonderful Jour de Fête. Just a gentle, slow-moving cinema short.

Also included are some other shorts by Directors like René Clément and Nicolas Ribowski featuring scripts by Tati, worth a watch from a historical perspective and for the sake of completion.

There is another analytical feature , “Professor Goudet Lessons”, which is an overall analysis of Jacques Tati’s films by Stéphane Goudet and Simon Wallon-Brownstone.

Blu-Ray tech specs: Cert: U / Region B / Combined Total Running Time: 146 mins approx / B&W/Colour / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 / Feature Audio: DTS HD Master Audio Mono 2.0 / HD Standard 1080p / French Language / English Subtitles

SUMMARY

This set, available for under £50 at several retailers, is a complete no-brainer for any collector of classic comedy. You even get a 55 page booklet which I didn't receive as part of the review set but which represents just one more reason to buy. It’s sublime, laugh-aloud funny and utterly thought provoking stuff – as relevant today as it was when it was originally released. Studio Canal have done an incredible job with the transfers and extras and I recommend it wholeheartedly.