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Jacques Tati Portrait

Who is Jacques Tati?

Jacques Tati was a French mime, filmmaker, and actor, recognized for his distinct style that combined comedy and commentary on modern life. Despite directing only six feature films, he earned acclaim as one of the greatest directors of all time. Tati's character, Monsieur Hulot, became a beloved figure, representing the struggle of humanity in a rapidly changing world. His most notable works include Mon Oncle, PlayTime, and Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, among others, alongside several short films.

Jour De Fete Art
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Jour de fête

1949

In his enchanting debut feature, Jacques Tati stars as a fussbudget of a postman who is thrown for a loop when a traveling fair comes to his village. Even in this early work, Tati was brilliantly toying with the devices (silent visual gags, minimal yet deftly deployed sound effects) and exploring the theme (the absurdity of our increasing reliance on technology) that would define his cinema.

Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday Art
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Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday

1953

Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort, where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s masterpiece of gentle slapstick is a series of effortlessly well-choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers; it was the first entry in the Hulot series and the film that launched its maker to international stardom.

Mon Oncle Art
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Mon Oncle

1958

Slapstick prevails again when Jacques Tati’s eccentric, old-fashioned hero, Monsieur Hulot, is set loose in Villa Arpel, the geometric, oppressively ultramodern home of his brother-in-law, and in the antiseptic plastic hose factory where he gets a job. The second Hulot movie and Tati’s first color film, Mon Oncle is a supremely amusing satire of mechanized living and consumer society that earned the director the Academy Award for best foreign-language film.

Playtime Art
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Playtime

1967

Jacques Tati’s gloriously choreographed, nearly wordless comedies about confusion in an age of high technology reached their apotheosis with PlayTime. For this monumental achievement, a nearly three-year-long, bank-breaking production, Tati again thrust the lovably old-fashioned Monsieur Hulot, along with a host of other lost souls, into a baffling modern world, this time Paris. With every inch of its superwide frame crammed with hilarity and inventiveness, PlayTime is a lasting record of a modern era tiptoeing on the edge of oblivion.

Trafic Art
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Trafic

1971

In Jacques Tati’s Trafic, the bumbling Monsieur Hulot, kitted out as always with tan raincoat, beaten brown hat, and umbrella, takes to Paris’s highways and byways. In this, his final outing, Hulot is employed as an auto company’s director of design, and accompanies his new product (a “camping car” outfitted with absurd gadgetry) to an auto show in Amsterdam. Naturally, the road there is paved with modern-age mishaps. This late-career delight is a masterful demonstration of the comic genius’s expert timing and sidesplitting knack for visual gags, and a bemused last look at technology run amok.

Parade Art
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Parade

1974

Parade is a unique film that combines elements of circus performance with Tati's distinctive comedic style. The movie features a circus set and various performances, providing a whimsical and visually striking experience.

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Other Works

Complete Filmography
Film Type Year
Jour De Fete Art Jour de fête Feature Film 1949
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday Art Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday Feature Film 1953
Mon Oncle Art Mon Oncle Feature Film 1958
Playtime Art Playtime Feature Film 1967
Trafic Art Trafic Feature Film 1971
Parade Art Parade Feature Film 1974
Brute Wanted Art Brute Wanted Short Film 1934
Gai Dimanche! Art Gai Dimanche! Short Film 1935
Watch Your Left Art Watch Your Left Short Film 1936
School for Postmen Art School for Postmen Short Film 1946
Cours du Soir Art Cours du Soir Short Film 1967
Degustation Maison Art Degustation Maison Short Film 1977
Forza Bastia Art Forza Bastia Documentary (Unfinished) 1978/2002

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