Tati story (2002) - full transcript

- It's half past. Shall I?

- Yes, turn it on.

Like every night

at this same time, it's...

Professor Platov's TV Hour!

Tonight, the life and work

of Jacques Tati.

Jacques Tatischefif a.k.a. Tat/j was born

in Le Pecq, near Saint-Germain-en-La ye,

on October 9, 1907.

His paternal grandfather,

Dimitri Tatischeff,

was a military attache

for the Russian embassy in France.

His maternal grandfather,

Mr. Van Hoof,

was a Dutch picture framer

living in Paris.

Jacques was the second child

of Claire Van Hoof

and Georges-Emmanuel Tatischeff,

who took over his father-in-laws

framing business.

He grew up at L Ermitage, the family

home in Saint-Germain-en-La ye.

Although his upbringing

gave him an appreciation for art,

Tati never had a master

nor a mentor.

His attraction for cinema came primarily

through his body and through play.

At 17, on the beach at Saint-Tropez,

he gives his first mime performance,

a soccer match

as seen by a goalie -

which he'll revisit 49 years later,

along with three other sketches,

in his last film, Parade.

Two years later,

his academic career less than bright,

he begins apprenticing

in his father's workshop.

His future is clear:

He'll follow in his father's

and grandfather's footsteps

and enter the framing business.

But 1928 marks the start of two

experiences that shaped him in his youth:

his military service

in the 16th Dragoon,

the Calvary Regiment

of Saint- Germafn-en-L a ye,

and playing second row for

the Racing Club de France rugby team,

where he was

the post-match entertainment,

imitating the players, spectators,

and referee of the match

just played.

In the military,

he learns schoolboy jokes

and rebellion against authority.

As a result, in 1931,

he leaves home

and the family business

to take the stage with a routine

called Sflent Sport

at the annual gala

of the Racing Club de France.

In 1932,

Tati tries his hand at cinema,

writing and starring in

Oscar, champion de tennis,

which was probably never finished

and is now lost.

He tries again two years later with

On demande une brute,

written with Alfred Sauvy,

captain of the Racing Club de France

and later a renowned economist.

Tati plays the lead,

supported by the clown Rhum,

whom he rejoins the f0//owing year

in Gai dimanche,

directed by Jacques Berr

instead of Charles Barrois.

Step right up.

Enjoy this fine weather.

Just 35 francs a ride.

A visit to the chéteaux,

a pleasant drive,

an outdoor lunch,

and the local attractions,

all for a set price of...

Thirty-five francs.

Step right up.

But the stage is where he triumphs:

at the Ritz in 1934

in a gala finale that includes

Maurice Chevalier and Mistinguett,

at Théétre Michel in 1.935 where Silent

Sport becomes Sporting Impressions,

and in 1936 at the ABC music hall

with the same show.

“Henceforth, "

writes Colette in Le JoumaL

“no party or artistic acrobatic show

would be complete

without this surprising artist

who's created something new

thatS part sport, part dance,

part satire, part tableau vivant.

Jacques Tab}

both horse and rider,

brings a fabulous beast to life

for Parisian audiences:

the centaur. ”

In 1936 he also writes

and stars in his first “real” film:

Soigne ton gauche,

directed by Rene Clement

long before The Battle of the Rails,

Forbidden Games, or Purple Noon.

After his triumphant tour

of European stages in 1937,

he writes, stars in, and even directs

Retour é la terre,

which was also lost,

probably unfinished.

He takes refuge,

probably in 1943, in Marembert,

near Sainte-Sévére-sur-Indre -

where Jour de fiéte

would one day be shot -

after he's drafted for a few months

in Cambrai in 1939.

On May 25, 1944,

he marries Micheline Winter

seen here in the light-colored dress in

L'Ecole des facteurs.

In 1946, he appears in Claude

Autant-Lara 's SyMe and the Phantom,

and very briefly in

Devil in the Flesh.

On October 23

his daughter Sophie is born.

From May to November 1947,

he shoots Jour de fete with two cameras:

one for color,

another for black and white.

But Jour de fiéte wouldn't find

a distributor until 1949.

The black-ahd-white version

was a smash hit upon its release

and won

the Grand prix du cinéma frangais.

The color version

would have to wait until 1994

for Frangois Ede and Sophie Tatischefi

to find a wa y to make exhibition prints.

His son, Pierre,

was born on July 4, 1949.

A little left.

This way. A little more.

Tati refuses to make a sequel

featuring the postman.

Three years after Jour de féte's release,

he shoots Monsieur Hulot's Holiday,

which is a smash hit in 1953

and wins the Prix Louis Delluc and the Prix

de Ia Critique Internationale at Cannes.

Monsieur. ...?

What?

Allow me.

- Hulot.

H-U-L-O-T.

Your pipe.

In 1956, before his father's death

on November 23,

he starts a production company,

Specta Films,

and shoots Mon oncle.

Mon omfle, passed over

for the Palme d 'Or at Cannes in 1958,

receives the Special Jury Prize

before receiving the ultimate award,

the Oscar

for Best Foreign Language Film,

the following year

in Hollywood.

Tati there asks to meet

Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd,

Mack Sennet, and Stan Laurel.

/n 1.961, while finishing

the script for The Illusionist,

which would never be made,

Tatf is asked by Bruno Coquatrfx

to put on a show at the Olympia.

Come on, let's go!

Gentlemen, on my command.

Attention!

Mount your cycles.

One, two.

Prepare for right turn... right!

Good. Left turn... left!

Very good.

You're pedaling

at normal speed for a letter.

Attention, gentlemen.

Telegram!

From April t0 June,

he stages Jour de féte é l'Olympia,

a variety show

for which he had part of Jour de féte

colorized by his friend

Paul Grimault.

In 1964, a new colorized version

of Jour de fiéte is released,

and the sets for playtime

are built in Join ville.

Toward the end

of shooting in 1967,

Tati writes and stars in

(Bouts du so“,

a mid-length feature

directed by Nicolas Ribowski.

Gentlemen, if you'll kindly

return to your seats,

you'll find on page 88,

paragraph two,

angling-

Gentlemen,

let's see how it's done.

In December of 1967...

PlayTime is released

at the Empire

to mixed reviews.

Although praised by the Nouvel

Observateur and Cahiers du cinéma,

in Combats,

Henri Chap/er criticizes it as

“a silly, pretentious allegory

that isn't even funny."

No, no, and no!

This can't continue.

Box office is decent,

but not enough to recoup costs.

Tati is forced

to release shorter versions

until runtime

is under two hours.

Franyois Ede, Macha Makeieff,

and Jéréme Deschamps

finally restore

the original version in 2002.

On November 16, 1969,

Tatfs mother dies, and he must

auction off his family home.

Tati shoots a few commercials.

He then sets off

for France, Belgium, and Holland

to make Trafic,

which was quietly released

in April 1971.

In 1973,

Swedish TV asks him

to pay homage

to the circus and variety shows.

His own routines

are included in Parade,

his last film.

With Jacques Lagrange, he begins

writing an ambitious new project

entitled Confusion.

But debts incurred by playtime

catch up with him,

and in 1974

his films are seized,

and his health begins to decline.

In 1977, Tatfs royalties

and films are bought

by Nina Mo/lesena Del Monaco.

With a group 0f shareholders,

he creates Panoramic Films...

allowing Tati to recover

46% of his royalties.

At the Cesar

awards ceremony in 1.977,

Tatf makes a stirring appeal

for the support of short films.

If you want

to reward short films,

I ask the Centre national

de la cinématographie,

distributors,

and theater operators -

I beg you,

support short films

and allow young filmmakers

to express themselves.

Without short films,

we'd never have had

Chaplin, or Keaton, or Fellini.

Or René Clément.

Nobody.

Please, take 1% of the profit

from your ice cream bars

and give young people

a chance to express themselves.

A documentary project called

Forza Basfia,

on the Bastia vs. Eindhoven

European Soccer Cup final,

falls apart in 1978.

Sophie Tatischeff will finish it

in 2000.

In 1.980, Tat};

at his daughter's request,

tells his life story t0 Jean L 'H0"te,

cowriter 0f Mon oncle.

The autobiography remains

unfinished and unpublished.

- You're forgetting something.

- What?

Shoe size.

Right into the door - barn!

In 7.982, he makes it a point of honor

to finish, with Lagrange,

the script for Confusion...

but he dies on November 4

of a pulmonary embolism.

Class is dismissed.

An extraordinary mime

who often said

“a comic actors greatest skill

lies in his footwork, ”

Jacques Tati remains

one of the great French directors,

one of the rare few who managed,

in only six films,

to fully express his dream.