Northwest Film Forum

July 18 - August 16, 2007

A century has passed since the birth of Jacques Tati, one of the great auteurs of the French cinema. What better way to celebrate than with this five-film retrospective? Tati's oeuvre is ever ripe for revelation and rediscovery by new audiences. Though relatively few in number, Tati's films have had an extraordinary impact. These free form physical comedies are often almost completely plotless and dialogue-free, yet they continue to fascinate and captivate, sometimes bringing to mind the work of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd.

Recurring themes in Tati's filmic poetry are hilarious observations about technology's mad race to overtake ordinary lives, the misbegotten ambitions and skewed priorities of the bumbling bourgeoisie, and the absurd contrasts between the lives of children and their adult caretakers. Indeed, one of the miracles and mysteries of Tati's films is that they appeal to both children and adults, though for entirely different reasons. While children delight in the slapstick antics of Tati's characters and his fanciful, futuristic sets, adults are able to sense deeper, and sometimes more melancholy nuances behind the action. A Tati film does not look or sound like any other filmmaker, in large part due to Tati's striking cinematography, his innovative use of music and his casting of non-professional actors.

This series includes all of Tati's feature films featuring Mr. Hurlot, Tati’s bumbling alter ego and greatest comedic invention. Tati, who began his career as a mime, casts himself as the bland, middle-aged Hulot, who manages to become a catalyst for chaos wherever he goes. Accident-prone and endlessly clueless of the havoc he wreaks, Hulot could not differ more from the obsessive, meticulous filmmaker who portrayed him.

"Tati was a method, a way of looking at the world to discover comic rhythms never seen before or since in movies." -Vincent Canby

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