Tati Tonight on TCM

[BruceH]

For those who get TCM and are Jacques Tati fans, TCM is having a Tati festival tonight. Starting at 5:00 PM Pacific (8:00 Eastern) they're showing Jour de Fete, Mr. Hulot's Holiday, Mon Oncle, and Playtime (which they're listing as "Play Time" but I always thought it was one word.) And remember, all people who aren't Tati fans, SHOULD be!

[Jazzmoose]

Damn damn damn damn damn. With all the talk about Tati here, I'd have loved to see this. Wish I'd known before work so I could have taped it...

[bichos]

great!! together with buster keaton one of my all time favourites!!

his films are great!

keep boppin´

marcel

[JSngry]

I get TCM, but not Jacques Tati. And I have tried. Repeatedly.

Some day, perhaps.

[BruceH]

great!! together with buster keaton one of my all time favourites!!

his films are great!

keep boppin´

marcel

Funny you should say that. Right after the last Tati film (Playtime, which is to say, Play Time) they showed The General and The Navigator.

[Adam]

Wow, what a phenomenal line up.

Jim, for you, I suggest seeing Playtime on a screen some day, and carefully listen to the sound. It's one of the most brilliant uses of sound with picture ever. Not sure if you'll ever have the chance, but that's one way to try once more. I think it's worth the attempt.

[RDK]

I get TCM, but not Jacques Tati.

Just the opposite for me right now.

[BruceH]

Wow, what a phenomenal line up.

Jim, for you, I suggest seeing Playtime on a screen some day, and carefully listen to the sound. It's one of the most brilliant uses of sound with picture ever. Not sure if you'll ever have the chance, but that's one way to try once more. I think it's worth the attempt.

I agree, but not just any screen, a BIG screen; like, movie palace big, if possible.

You're right, Adam. I was struck all over again at the large number of sound-based jokes in his movies. Sure, Tati was an intensely visual comic, but has anyone ever made wider and cleverer use of sound effects? I tend to doubt it.

[B. Clugston]

Trafic is now out on Criterion.

[ejp626]

Trafic is now out on Criterion.

Yep, we discussed this briefly. It has some great extras - an entire extra disc for In the Footsteps of M. Hulot. I believe that Jour de Fete is the only one not available in the US through Criterion; you still need a region 2 import for that.

I was somewhat indifferent to Playtime the first time I saw it (on video). It has almost no plot and very minimal dialogue. But it sort of haunted me (in particular what was I missing that so many critics loved). And I was challenged by it in a way. A few years ago, when Criterion was prepping for the new release, a 70 mm print was making the rounds, and I managed to see it on the big screen. This time I enjoyed it a lot more, paying more attention to the visual and sound gags. However, I think Playtime (and perhaps Tati in general) really appeals to people who are attuned to two things -- 1) paying attention to film as a medium rather than looking for conventional plot and 2) people with a nostalgic, even melancholy nature. Tati is fundamentally a backwards-looking artist, examining how modernity is hollow and people are much better off retaining older (presumably pre-WWII) modes of life. Now this is oversimplifying a bit; nonetheless, modernity and consumption culture only serve to impede people's relationships with others. This is certainly what I find so fascinating about Tati, looking at his depiction of France's coming to terms with modernity.