Jacques Tati Essay

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Todd Stiefelmayer Research Paper AD170 Jacques Tati Jacques Tati was a french filmmaker and actor who had a reputation for his comedic films that portrayed people in conflict with technology and the mechanized modern world. He wrote and starred in all six of the feature films that he directed, four of which he played the role of Monsieur Hulot, a lanky, pipe-smoking fellow with a quizzical, innocent nature. His first major film was Jour de fete (The Big Day). This film tells the story of an awkward countryside village postman who constantly disrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as explore the carnival that has come to his small town. After viewing a documentary on the efficiency of the American postal service, he tries everything to speed his mail deliveries on his bicycle producing comedic slapstick results. Following the release of Jour de fete, Tati spent some time making Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday), which introduces another quirky character, who he portrays in all his films to follow. Mr. Hulot is a tall, thin pipe-smoking man, who is presented as an innocent, oblivious tourist who clumsily builds up relationships with others in the beach town. The film is not lead by a plot or narrative but presents recurring themes, occurrences, and characters, which is how many of Tati’s films are driven . Tati then released Mon Oncle (My Uncle, Mr. Hulot), a sequel to Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot. In this film, Mr. Hulot is less of a focus in the film, playing an uncle who becomes frustrated with the modern appliances at his nephews home. It was Tati's first color film and, even while featuring less of Mr. Hulot, was still quite successful. Audiences grew fond of Tati’s alter ego as Hulot rather than him as a filmmaker. For his next feature with the character he shot big, elaborate, futuristic sets featuring Mr.

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