Jacques Tati: His Life and Art [Hardcover]

David Bellos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Immense, buoyant, utterly revealing . . . An overwhelming human portrait, as vivid as it is complex." -- Richard Eder Los Angeles Times, on Georges Perec: A Life in Words

About the Author

David Bellos, the author of Georges Perec: A Life in Words and the translator of Perec's novel Life: A User's Manual, is a professor of French at Princeton University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Harvill Pr (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860466516
• ISBN-13: 978-1860466519
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,082,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jacques Tati: 20th Century artist, November 18, 2001

By 

Tosh Berman/TamTam Books - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jacques Tati: His Life and Art (Hardcover)

David Bellos and Jacques Tati: What an odd combination. The odd thing about it is that David Bellos is a much-respected translator of French writer Georges Perec's novels, in addition to being Perec's biographer, and he's a much-admired expert on French literature. So why would he be interested in writing a biography of one of cinema's great clowns, Jacques Tati, especially when Bellos admits he is not a film fanatic and feels that if he had met Tati, he wouldn't have been able to spend more than five minutes in conversation with the man? Bellos cites his interest in Tati's artistry and his place in what the author calls "the trente glorieuses -- the 30 glorious years of rising prosperity in France from 1945 to 1975." These are the years during which Tati did his amazing work. He was not only one of the great filmmakers but also an artist who commented on humankind's interest and need for work and leisure -- with hilarious results. And his set designs have been a hit with architects around the world.

There is nothing more moderne than a Tati film. Tati made fun of the French love for le gadget: everything from Le Corbusier-style chaises longues to cars that had grills suitable for barbecuing. Jacques Tati is weak as a biography, insofar as Bellos doesn't get into Tati's head, but the book is strong when Bellos writes about Tati's films and his Kubrick-like madness in waiting for the perfect shot, perfect moment, perfect anything. Like Kubrick, Tati was an unforgiving perfectionist, and although he was a funnyman on film, Tati was quite moody and depressed during the shoots. His single-minded intensity in getting the film he wanted eventually destroyed him financially; for the masterpiece Playtime, Tati built a small modern city as a set, which caused his accountant to flip his lid. The film failed financially, and Tati never recovered from the disappointment.

As Bellos writes in his introduction to the book, he is hopeful that there will be other books on this peculiar film genius. This is only an introduction, and when one takes it as just that, this book is a must-read for Tati fans. Oh, and if you are not a Tati fan, I don't want to know you.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The itinerary of a life, July 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jacques Tati: His Life and Art (Hardcover)

Bellos presents the itinerary of a life and something more of a career, but Jacques Tati remains largely a mystery. I'll reread this biography, ignoring the narrow, academic view of intellect and flawless, postwar judgments of wartime behavior, and I'll recommend it to others. But I'll continue to hope that someone will write a life of Tati filled with scenes as revealing and eloquent as Hulot's resetting of a brick in a crumbling Paris wall.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a serious study of tati's career, March 6, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jacques Tati: His Life and Art (Hardcover)

don't expect to read the normal gossip-laden biography. this is a most serious text detailing the comic genius and cinematic philosophy of the brilliant and (almost) tragic actor/director.