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Jour de fête

France

1949

76 Min
Color
1.33:1
French
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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DIR Jacques Tati

PROD Fred Orain, André Paulvé

SCR Jacques Tati, Henri Marquet, René Wheeler

DP Jacques Mercanton, Jacques Sauvageot

CAST Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankeur

ED Marcel Morreau

MUSIC Jean Yatove

SOUND Jacques Maumont

Venice (Best Original Screenplay): International Award, Melbourne (Programme 2), Ghent (Memories of Film), Cannes (Cannes Classics)

Synopsis

All is calm in this little village in the center of France until the fairground entertainers arrive with their trailers. Then the fair gets under way: a carousel, lottery, brass band and a traveling cinema where François, the local postman, discovers a film about the American postal service. Encouraged by the whole village, he sets out to deliver the mail “American Style.” Jacques Tati’s first feature length film is an absolute “must see” for its inventiveness and unique comic style.

Director

Original

Jacques Tati

Filmmaker and actor Jacques Tati reinvented the art of slapstick comedy, expertly dissecting the nature of sight gags and pratfalls while exploiting viewer expectations to create an ambitious, richly detailed cinematic parlor game perfect for exploring the infinite mysteries of the modern world. Born Jacques Tatischeff October 9, 1908, in Le Pecq, France; Tati mounted his first film short, the comedy Oscar, Champion du Tennis, in 1931, but never saw the project through to its completion. His subsequent early work, including 1934’s On Demande une Brute, 1935’s Gai Dimanche, and 1936’s Soigne ton Gauche, presaged his later features in their fascination with natural and mechanical sounds. The outbreak of World War II, which he spent stationed in the village of Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, brought Tati’s career to a temporary halt, and after completing the 1938 short Retour à la terre, he did not appear before the camera again prior to Claude Autant… read more

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espaçonimas

14Apr13

Para ver ou rever. Espaço Nimas, domingo (14/04/2013), 15h00. Aparece

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Omer Syed

27Dec12

Starting point for Tati, quite hilarious.

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Trolley Freak

23Apr12

Tati's featue debut was a sublime expansion of his earlier short School For Postmen. When the fair arrives in a sleepy French town, amongst the usual attractions is a tent showing a film about the US postal service which is observed by Tati's bumbling postman. After much teasing by locals he is inspired to improve the town's own postal service. I found the film to be thoroughly beguiling, inventive and very funny....

Tom JF and 2 others like this

Omer Syed, Ingrid Hoeben

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Vaida Kazlauskaitė

11Sep11

Though enjoyable and lovely most of the time, it wasn't as impressing as i've expected. For me it lacked the liveliness of slapstick comedies and was a little too gentle or "secure" - qualities that are usually rare in this genre.

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Untitled

By Brad S. on November 14, 2009

One can look at Jour de fête in one of two ways. In the context of film history, it’s an important moment in the evolution of comedy, as it marked the debut of France’s most acclaimed comedic innovator…  read review

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