Jour de Fete (1949)
"Jour de fête" (original title)

Once a year the fair comes for one day to the little town 'Sainte-Severe-sur-Indre'. All inhabiters are scoffing at Francois, the postman, what he seems not to recognize. The rising of the ... See full summary »

Director:

Jacques Tati

Writers:

Jacques Tati, Henri Marquet,

Stars:

Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankeur

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Jacques Tati	...	François, le facteur
Guy Decomble	...	Roger
Paul Frankeur	...	Marcel
Santa Relli	...	Germaine
Maine Vallée	...	Jeannette
Robert Balpo	...	Le châtelain
Delcassan	...	La commère
Jacques Beauvais	...	Le cafetier
Valy	...	Edith
Roger Rafal	...	Le coiffeur
Alexandre Wirtz

Storyline

Once a year the fair comes for one day to the little town 'Sainte-Severe-sur-Indre'. All inhabiters are scoffing at Francois, the postman, what he seems not to recognize. The rising of the flagstaff under his direction nearly leads into a catastrophy - but everybody tells him, how important his work is. Sneering up Francois continues in the evening of the festive day. Made drunk, some 'friends' persuade him to watch a short-movie in a tent. This film is a stunt-show, covered as 'The modern delivery-techniques of the US-post. Francois takes it serious, not recognizing being teased. Next day, after getting sober in a goods wagon, he reorganizes his own delivery-methods. He has not the equipment, as his ideals in the short-movie have, but using only his bicycle, he makes good, funny progresses.

---

Plot Keywords:

bicycle | french | postman | mail | mailman | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

11 May 1949 (France)

Also Known As:

Holiday

Filming Locations:

Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, Indre, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cady Films, Panoramic Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min 80 min (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema) 86 min (1960) 79 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (original release) Color (Thomsoncolor) (alternate version, first released after restoration in 1995)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the gags in this movie were previously used nearly identically in The School for Postmen.

---

Crazy Credits

Alexandre Wirtz has an actor credit in black and white version only.

---

Connections

Referenced in A Very Long Engagement (2004)

User Reviews

An Introduction to Tati

This movie will undoubtedly not be what you expect. The cover-art of Tati DVDs paints him as a Chaplin-esquire figure, but he's much gentler than Charlie. Charlie was energetic. You'll enjoy Tati's films if you expect a gentle trip to a beautiful little village. Throughout the film you observe more than get really involved. Tati always keeps you at a distance, like a stranger.

I liked Mon Oncle the best first run through, but by that stage it was the fourth of Tati's major four pictures I'd seen, so that must have coloured my impression. The most famous is Les Vacances de M. Hulot, and M. Hulot is Tati's famous character, who appears in Mon Oncle, Les Vacances and Playtime. He doesn't appear in Jour de Fete, which was Tati's first first feature-length.

Tati is the Antonioni of slapstick comedy. There's plenty to look at in his movies, as long as you stop waiting for a narrative. None of them have real stories. They do progress, but its more the visual motifs of the various townspeople that develop throughout.

Of the four I'd say Playtime is the least friendly to first-timers.

All copies of Jour de Fete since 1995 feature the imperfect colour process it was filmed with. Its not colourised, that's just the best colour method that Tati had at his disposal in 1949 in France. Even after restoration it suffers from over-brightening and unevenness in colour, and the overall impression is of a bad colourisation, so just be ready for that, and remember this colour version wasn't available until 1995, before that there was no colour, and I think the colour's an important part of the experience of Tati's fete.

I'd recommend you rent/borrow before buying any Tati, so you know what you're getting. Probably youtube won't be the best place: any small segment of his films won't make sense on its own, they're quite slow-paced, and the characters and scenes are meant to accumulate, not be excerpted.

Happy hunting.

Ben