12 – 23 November

Among French cinema’s most original and inventive comics, Jacques Tati (1907-1982) is fondly remembered by audiences and critics alike for a small, nearly flawless body of work. With little to no dialogue in his movies, employing tightly choreographed slapstick action to propel the story along instead, Tati was a silent movie star in the age of sound. His precise films were made to look breezy and effortless and given a greater depth by successfully merging farce with social commentary on materialism, class relationships and the impersonal nature of modernisation.

Dir: Jacques Tati
France 1949 79mins 35mm
Francois, a rural French postman, likes to go about his work the old fashioned way. But when the carnival arrives with a mobile cinema, a film extolling the virtues of American modernisation causes the local villagers to wonder if Francois has fallen behind the times. Up to the challenge the plucky postman hops on his bicycle and sets about improving the efficiency of his round with hilarious and sometimes hair-raising results. Jacques Tati stars in a rare non-Hulot role in this fully restored original colour version.

Preceded by the Tati short School for Postmen (1947)

Dir: Jacques Tati
France 1953 114mins 35mm
Monsieur Hulot makes his feature film debut in this satire of the idle bourgeoisie and their determination to enjoy themselves no matter what. M. Hulot arrives at a sleepy seaside holiday resort, unintentionally creating havoc as he stumbles from one catastrophe to another, while everyone around him puts up a brave face. Gentle, innocent and charming, this slapstick comedy remains hugely influential and set the high standards that Tati sought to exceed in his later films.

Listed in 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

Dir: Jacques Tati
France 1958 110min 35mm
A little older but none the wiser, Monsieur Hulot returns in his second feature, this time leaving his colourful Parisian neighbourhood for the suburbs to visit his sister in her ultra modernised home and brother-in-law in his mechanised factory, bringing disaster with him. A notorious perfectionist, Tati has crafted a remarkable, tightly choreographed piece of visual comedy that again targets the bourgeoisie and the paradoxical conveniences of modern life.
Winner Oscar Best Foreign Language Film 1958

Listed in 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

Dir: Jacques Tati
France 1967 155mins 35mm
An ageing Hulot wanders through a futuristic city of glass and steel, only identifiable as Paris by reflections of the Eiffel Tower on its polished, gleaming surfaces. Initially fearful, our hero ultimately transcends this clinical universe by finding the beauty and humanity that lies within. Tati creates such an intricately detailed tableau that new comic gags become visible upon multiple viewings. Undoubtedly Tati’s masterpiece, this funny yet melancholy existentialist comedy is among the finest examples of film as art.

Listed in 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die