Jour De Fete (1919.)
Tati's first film is a celebration of traditional French country life, and a thank you to the village that sheltered Tati when he had to flee from a Nazi compulsory work order during the war. The film is pre-Hulot and he plays the village postman (bearing a resemblance to Jean Reno) who is rather a figure of fun for the other villagers.
This may pre-date his major comic creation but his life-long theme, his defense of traditional values against the advance of impersonal modern technology, is already firmly in place. Numerous pranks are played on the postman during the course of the village fete and after watching a film about the US postal service, he is encouraged to do his round the next day American Style. This is efficient but impersonal, a threat to Traditional French values. Never mind that most of the people of the village seem to bully him.
If he were English I suspect that Tati would be a closet UKIPper, or at least express John Major-esque yearnings for warm beer and cricket on the village green, although to be fair, no Boules is seen in these films.
Tati's first film is a celebration of traditional French country life, and a thank you to the village that sheltered Tati when he had to flee from a Nazi compulsory work order during the war. The film is pre-Hulot and he plays the village postman (bearing a resemblance to Jean Reno) who is rather a figure of fun for the other villagers.
This may pre-date his major comic creation but his life-long theme, his defense of traditional values against the advance of impersonal modern technology, is already firmly in place. Numerous pranks are played on the postman during the course of the village fete and after watching a film about the US postal service, he is encouraged to do his round the next day American Style. This is efficient but impersonal, a threat to Traditional French values. Never mind that most of the people of the village seem to bully him.
If he were English I suspect that Tati would be a closet UKIPper, or at least express John Major-esque yearnings for warm beer and cricket on the village green, although to be fair, no Boules is seen in these films.
