Tati

Started by tpfkabi, October 06, 2004, 10:55:48 PM

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tpfkabi

i did a search for Jacques Tati. i was for certain that there was a thread for all things Tati, but i did not find one. anywho, Ebert recently did a Great Movies on Playtime:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040829/REVIEWS08/408290301/1004

i haven't heard anything about the Criterion re-release of Playtime in a while. i already spent way too much on the original print on eBay before it was announced. :cry:
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

pete

they played that on the big screen in Boston, it was awesome.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Ravi

Playtime was the first Tati film I saw, so I was not expecting it to be like it was.  It was strange and weird and kind of rambling and I want to see it again.  I later saw Mr. Hulot's Holiday, which was a bit more accessible.  The humor in these two films isn't normally laugh-out-loud, but you do smile a lot while watching them.

tpfkabi

I made the mistake of first viewing Play Time on a Saturday morning while laying down on the couch. It was hard to stay awake, especially during the scene where you view Hulot and his army buddy/family through the window as an observer from the street. There is no dialogue, only the sound of cars and people walking by. I watched this again last night and I was blown away. The sound design is amazing. Its hard to tell its in mono. Watching it that Saturday morning, I concluded it was way too long, but the time really seemed to fly this time. It really makes me wonder what the 30 minutes that were cut were like (maybe Criterion has found this and will restore it for the delayed re-release).

I imagine it was a great experience to see on the big screen. In the Ebert review above, he tells of a reviewer who says you must not only see the film multiple times to catch everything, but watch it from different seats in the theatre.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

Ravi

Play Time was originally shown 70mm so I wonder why the Criterion DVD is mono.  If Tati was going to spend so much money, he probably didn't skimp on a stereo soundtrack.

Ghostboy

A lot of movies maintained mono soundtracks well past the point that stereo sound was developed. The Shining, for example.

Anyway, I haven't seen Playtime yet, but I'm dying to -- I hope the new 70mm print makes it to Dallas at some point, although I don't think it will. I LOVE Mon Oncle and M. Hulot's Holiday. I hadn't heard of him before Cannes '02, when David Lynch talked about how Hulot was his favorite film and PTA talked about how they were an inspiration to PDL. I bought Hulot right away, and then they went out of print. I got Mon Oncle for Christmas last year. Both films are absolutely wonderful.

Ravi

http://www.macmusic.org/articles/view.php/lang/EN/id/12/?vRmtQjpAznOhMaS=1

At last in France, Jacques Tati mixed "Playtime" in stereo in 1967. But that was still experimentation : no standard of production was raising yet, and very few theatres got those "improvements".

samsong

I saw a screening of the 70 mm print of Playtime last night... my God it was glorious.  Tati on the big screen is one of the most cherished (movie) experiences of my life... I want, no, I need to see more.

meatwad

everybody around nyc should go to the museum of the moving image this weekend. they are showing playtime for the next two days. i saw it tonight, and it was well worth it

i know that the museum is in mod's neighborhood, and he may have some tips, but just to warn you if you drive, get ready to spend a while looking for parking

samsong

what night did you go?  i was there last night.

"well worth it"'s an understatement... it's one of the greatest films ever made.

meatwad

Quote from: samsong on April 10, 2006, 12:11:51 AM
what night did you go?

i was there friday night. picked up my ticket for prarie home companion, where robert altman will be there, while i was at the museum

tpfkabi

TCM's showing four films of his Thursday in honor of his 101st b-day:

Jour de fete
m hulot's holiday
mon oncle
playtime

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=208640

i still haven't got the Trafic Criterion yet.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

MacGuffin

Mr. Hulot's pipe censored by Paris Metro

PARIS (Reuters) - The pipe favored by one of French cinema's most enduring comic characters has fallen victim to advertisers who were worried about breaking an anti-smoking law -- but have earned mockery and ridicule instead.

Jacques Tati's Mr Hulot, whose pipe was as much a trademark as his hat and beige raincoat, is seen riding his Velosolex motor scooter in a poster advertising a retrospective at the Cinematheque de Paris.

But the pipe has been replaced by a small colored whirligig by Metrobus, the group that manages advertising on Paris public transport , because of fears the pipe could break a law forbidding it from "direct or indirect" tobacco and alcohol advertising .

Mr Hulot, the accident-prone hero who stumbled benevolently through a series of films between 1953 and 1971, is one of the most immediately recognizable figures in French cinema and the affair of his pipe has sparked a minor uproar.

The Liberation daily was among many newspapers mocking the cover-up, pointing out that Mr Hulot is not wearing a helmet, is riding an old-fashioned, polluting vehicle and that the small boy riding behind him is not seated securely.

"Why not go all the way with this legislative zeal?" it asked.

Even Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot has been worried. "We're getting pretty ridiculous with this," she said.

A Metrobus spokesman appeared unperturbed, reacting with the kind of assurance in adversity that would have done Mr Hulot proud.

"I really don't understand what all the fuss is about," he said.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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