‘Tati, like Bresson, invents cinema as he makes a film; he rejects anyone else’s structures.’ – Truffaut
As part of the annual Le French May Arts Festival,
the film festival this year is bringing the retrospective of Jacques Tai to its audience.

Text: Ernest Chan Chi Wa | Translation: dilettante | Photo Courtesy: LE FRENCH MAY

TATIVILLE

Tati’s ‘Playtime’ was said to be the inspiration behind Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Terminal’. Spielberg’s three-storey airport set juxtaposes Tati’s ‘Tativille’ model city ﹣ completed with airport, skyscraper, office, streets filled with shops, traffic roads and car parks. As the most costly French film production at the time, ‘Playtime’ was no doubt a film made for the big screen. Tati insisted to shoot with 70mm, resulting with images filled with delightful details.

Born in 1907, Tati realised his talent and interest for observing and mimicking other’s behaviour at a tender age. Often performed in front of his friends, Tati later made his way to the stage and became a silent film actor. He also began shooting and acting in some silent comedies. Many consider him a successor of Charlie Chaplin, for his ability to create humour with body language, take advantage of film set and create unique sound effect. A cheerful character in front of the camera, Tati was a perfectionist and often re-shot a whole scene to correct an error, no matter how insignificant it was.

Tati passed away in 1982, leaving just six feature films and three short films. ‘Quality rather than quantity’, his work attracted influential following such as André Bazin (‘Cahiers du Cinéma’ in 1950s), Truffaut and Godard. Truffaut once said that ‘(Jacques) Tati’, like Bresson, invents cinema as he makes a film; he rejects anyone else’s structures.’ When Sylvain Chomet made the animation ‘Les Triplettes de Belleville’, it was also a tribute to Tati — the appearance of ‘Les Vacances de M. Hulot’ poster, as well as extracts from ‘Jour de Fête’ which would make ‘Triplets of Belleville’ laughs out loud.

MONSIEUR HULOT

Tati made his director debut with short film ‘School for Postmen’ in 1947, also acted as a clumsy postman. Two years later came ‘Jour de Fête’, about a clumsy small town postman sees a film promoting American postmen in an annual local festival. Amazed by the advance procedures, he invents various ways to increase his work efficiency in vain and ends up creating many dramas. Tati insisted to shoot in colour and black-and-white simultaneously, but only the black-and-white version was shown at the time. The colour version was never shown before 1995.

With ‘Jour de Fête’ gaining much praise, Tati started filming his second feature film ‘Les Vacances de M. Hulot’ in 1953. Disposing the postman image, he appeared as the quiet leggy Mr. Hulot. In the high summer, the French spends their holidays in seaside. So is Mr. Hulot, dangling the pipes between his lips, he almost lights up the entire firework stock in the small warehouse. Apparently the character is based on a barber assistant Tati met in the army, which became the blueprint of the dippy Mr. Hulot.

SERIOUS PLAYTIME

Tati began to film ‘Mon Oncle’ in 1958. The film shows an indifferent building site contrasting with a friendly old area. The carefree Mr. Hulot, an outsider in a society that emphasise on result and rules, creates many comedic moments. His sister’s family lives the life of a pretentious bourgeois, in a house that is like a sterile showroom. The film makes jokes on the power of bourgeois, and how people willingly trapped themselves in robotic lives in the name of pursuing new technology and efficiency.

‘Mon Oncle’ was awarded Jury Prize at the Cannes Festival, as well as the Foreign Language Film in the Oscar. Tati then started working on ‘Playtime’. He hired many amateur actors, often demonstrated the required body language for the actors himself. He acted as Mr. Hulot again, this time in an outfit of trench coat and gentleman top hat. Wandering amongst the busy city, Mr. Hulot is a trivial character lost in a big city. Tati turned the cold modern cityscape into a massive playground. The traffic-turned-marry-go-round end scene invites the audience to his ‘playtime’.

Tati exhausted his savings to fund the filming of ‘Playtime’, even re-mortgaged his own house. It was the most unfortunate outcome that the audience did not appreciate the film at the time. The box office of ‘Playtime’ plunged to a degree that he went bankrupt, and down with his production company also. It is only now, forty years later, that ‘Playtime’ is recognized as a classic. Miss agnes b. was said to love it so much that she financed the re-mastering of the film. After ‘Playtime’, Tati filmed the finale of Mr. Hulot series ‘Trafic’ as well as circus-themed ‘Parade’.

SERIOUS PLAYTIME
THE MODERN WORLD OF JACQUES TATI
6 – 27 May 2009

bc.cinema.com.hk/adhoc/jacques_tati