Jacques Tati

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The french writer, director and actor made only five feature films between 1949 and 1971 but is considered one of the most important filmmakers and comedians of the sound film era. His Monsieur Hulot became one of the icons of the 20th century and was kind of a post-war counterpart of Chaplin’s Tramp. There is nearly no dialogue of any importance in Tati’s films but the soundtracks are always as elaborated as the visual gags and the timing. In Jour de fête (Festival Day), Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot’s Holiday), Mon Oncle (My Uncle) and his late masterpiece Playtime Tati tells the ongoing story of man’s struggle with modern things, modern society and the desire to be modern at any cost. Which, of course, is quite funny in itself. Tati’s style has been described as “the democratic laughter” and bears some resemblance with absurdism. He was so obsessed with every detail of his films that he build a gigantic city set (Tativille), filmed in 70mm and worked nine years on Playtime, eventually resulting in his bankruptcy.