Look at the kid on the back, look at that grin. This photo made me grin like that.
This is one of my favourite film characters - Monsieur Hulot, played by Jacques Tati. This still is from the film "Mon Oncle" - Tati is the uncle of the title. Very funny, Tati had a great eye, seeing and using wonderful social observation as the base of his humour.
I'm not too keen on Parade, and Trafic was a bit marginal for me, but the earlier films are absolutely my favourites of all time. There is so much in them - I have them all on DVD, and watch them again and again - there's always something going on in the background I haven't seen before - astonishing eye for detail and for body-language Tati had. Mind you, I understand from his bios that he was an absolute monster to work with - everything had to be done the way he saw it - and as he got older things started to elude him a bit. Playtime is pretty good anyway, but it seems it includes a pile of fantastically expensive visual effects which didn't quite work, but nobody dared take them out. Anyway - thanks for the reminder - I shall watch Mon Oncle again this week. I love all the little running themes - the street sweeper who never actually sweeps anything is one, for a start...
ReplyDelete