Jour De Fete
1949
The story of a village's Bastille Day celebrations and a postman's determined efforts to get the mail through. A delightful look at the modern obsession with speed and efficiency. French dialogue with subtitles. Read more
| Starring | Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankeur |
|---|---|
| Director | Jacques Tati |
| Genres | Comedy, World Cinema |
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Jour De Fete
The story of a village's Bastille Day celebrations and a postman's determined efforts to get the mail through. A delightful look at the modern obsession with speed and efficiency. French dialogue with subtitles.
| Starring | Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankeur |
|---|---|
| Director | Jacques Tati |
| Studio | BFI VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 27 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 29 Nov 2004 Production year: 1949 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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If it hadn't been for the wonders of modern technology, this comic masterpiece would have been lost for ever. Jacques Tati had hoped that his debut feature would be one of the first French films shot in colour, but the stock was underdeveloped during processing and audiences had to make do with a black-and-white back-up copy until 1997, when a fully restored colour version (with a black-and-white introduction) was released. A prize winner at Venice, the movie is an expansion of Tati's short film, L'Ecole des Facteurs, and follows the comic misadventures of François the village postman as he tries to dispose of his letters at record speed in the style of the US mail service. Sheer genius.
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Like Keaton before him, Tati devised gags of such sheer intricacy as to prove on occasion just too beautiful to be... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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21 out of 21 people found this review helpful
Five star film, poor value DVD
This is a wonderful slice of early Tati, packed with beautifully timed and observed sight and sound gags and easily the equal of his later excursions as M. Hulot. I eagerly watched this restored colour print, having only previously seen the black and white version with colour tints. Before long I realised that this newer version is considerably different from the latter - alternative camera angles, editing and the complete omission of one of the characters. In other words a 'different' version of the film. This led me to find my battered video of the original release and compare the two. Both are terrific of course but given the length of the movie (76 or so minutes) why could the BFI not include both versions on their DVD? There are no extras on this release so there is plenty of room to do just that. Considering the high retail price of their products, the British Film Institute are really not giving value for money here (as they rarely do). Yes, you should rent this gem of a film but if you want to own it, then wait for the US release which will apparently contain both versions.
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Most recent members' review
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
A Colourful Day
This was the first time that I had seen the coloured film version of 'Jour De Fete' and it enhanced the overall tone of this comic sketch on post WWII French rural life.
I believe that this was the first film which brought Tati to an International standing as a screen entertainer.
It is already a classic and my favourite extract was sorting the mail on the lorry tailgate, pure genius worthy of Buster Keaton, let alone Charles Chaplin.
Worth the money, give it a go guvernor! -
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The story of a village's Bastille Day celebrations and a postman's determined efforts to get the mail through. A delightful look at the modern obsession with speed and efficiency. French dialogue ... -