Jacques Tati: His Life and Art (Panther S)

by David Bellos (Author)

• New

  Illustrated
  2001

  $15.14

  The full story of one of France's greatest cinema legends, a clown whose film-making innovation was to turn everyday life into an art form. Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot, unmistakable with his pipe, brolly and striped socks, was a creation of slapstick genius that made audiences around the world laugh at the sheer absurdity of life. This biography charts Tati's rise and fall, from his earliest beginnings as a music hall mime during the Depression, to the success of Jour de Fete and Mon Oncle, to Playtime, the grandiose masterpiece that left the once celebrated director bankrupt and begging for equipment to complete his final films. Analysing Tati's singular vision, Bellos reveals the intricate staging of his most famous gags and draws upon hitherto inaccessible archives to produce a unique assessment of his work and its context for film lovers and film students alike.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1999

  $26.67

  A Frenchman of Russian origin, Jacques Tati, who was born in 1908 and died in 1982, worked as a picture framer and a music-hall mime before being drawn into the world of French cinema and making the films that rank him with the most popular comedy actors and directors in any country. He brought to his films -- Jour de Fete, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, Mon Oncle, Playtime, and others -- a healthy openness to new technology in movie-making and a rigorous precision, the hallmark of many great clowns, in the execution of each scene. In this, the first complete, authoritative biography of the French icon, David Bellos has had the freedom to examine hitherto inaccessible archives, including film footage, videotapes, taped interviews, and early drafts of shooting scripts. What emerges is the picture of a man at once dedicated, impassioned, and shy. In Bellos's dynamic, closely researched account, Tati comes abundantly alive and remains, as onscreen, strangely lovable.