Jour de Fete (1949)

 Jacques Tati's "Jour de Fete"


Jacques Tati, who was known for his later works like "Monsier Hulot's Hoilday" and "Playtime" had his directorial debut with his 1949 film "Jour de Fete." Although his later works dwarfed "Jour de Fete" retrospectively, it still was an important first step for the iconic French director. Centering on a mailman attempting to change the speed of his delivery after watching a film about American mail services, the film takes us through a small village where modernity has yet to catch up with the people. 

Although I am excited to watch the filmography of Jacques Tati, I felt very underwhelmed by his debut. I completely understand the thematic point being made about the rapidly Americanized industrialization of the post-war French landscape, however the film seem to lean more on its physical comedy than what I know Tati is capable of through his staging and direction. And yes, I am completely aware of how silly it sounds to say that Jacques Tati is leaning too much on physical comedy. In fact, I regret even saying that. But, what I will say is that I found the comedic elements of the film very mild and not as funny as I would have imagined. Which meant that the themes of the film had to come through in more complex ways, which they certainly did not. If the themes are loosely posited, I need the comedy to be top notch. If the comedy is much looser, I would prefer the themes to come to the forefront. With this film, it seemed as though both theme and comedy were almost sort of mild and doesn't really 'go for it.'

That being said, I still very much enjoyed the film. I am excited to watch more Tati films, as I'm sure this particular one will certainly be eclipsed by the others. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rio Bravo (1959)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" To conclude the filmography of Howard Hawks, I watched his 1959 western film " Rio Bravo ." I've got to say that I was expecting a lot more out of this picture based on all the praise for the film. That is not to say that I didn't like it, it was a fine time at the cinema (I was not at the cinema, I was at home). I can't say that I should have expected more, as I'm not entirely that big of a fan of Howard Hawks. Even his best film (to me), " The Big Sleep " is arguably one of the weaker film noirs that I've seen. " Rio Bravo " is a film that apparently is a response to 1952's " High Noon ," which was an allegory about Hollywood's blacklisting and McCarthyism. Howard Hawks and John Wayne felt the film was anti-American and instead made " Rio Bravo " to broadcast an alternative perspective in which the hero of the story doesn't shy away from justice. I personally ha...
Read more

King Kong (1933)

Image
  Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" There are many post-Depression American 'box office' films that I have seen in my film studies journey. Most of these post-Depression box office films don't typically sit right with me. The films I have in mind are the gangster and monster films that swept the nation in the early 1930s. These films typically were meant to placate an anxious American audience. However, the depth to their thematic intricacies leave something to be desired. Even without this depth, the 'entertainment' aspect of these films were not very entertaining to me. However, there is one film that utterly surprised me, 1933's adventure epic " King Kong ."   The story is well-known. A group of filmmakers travel to a remote island to take advantage of strange and interesting natural wildlife unknown to the outside world. There they meet an indigenous people, all terrified of a large, monstrous primate living on...
Read more

The Big Sleep (1946)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" After watching Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir " The Big Sleep ," I have to say that it is not one of my favorite film noirs. That being said, it was definitely the best Howard Hawks film I've seen thus far. It did not have the typical dark ending that permeates the whole film with bleak darkness, which probably made it a lesser noir for me. In fact, it felt more like a 'studio noir,' if that makes sense. I'm not going to go into the entire plot of the film, especially because the entire plot is incredibly convoluted. In fact, this was a major strike against the film at the time of its release. Many reported that they could not keep up with what was happening. I've got to say that, for myself, this was the case as well. I found myself having to rewind to figure out what exactly I missed or who was who. However, upon reflection, the convoluted plot may only add to the feverish intoxication of the film.  Because...
Read more