Jacques Tati- Where to Find Visual Comedy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ธ.ค. 2016
- If you watch a lot of film essays, then you've probably heard the complaint that visual comedy is something of a lost art nowadays, with most mainstream comedies opting instead for jokes done strictly through dialogue and improv. So, let's look back at one of cinema's greatest visual comedians and see where he found his visual comedy.
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For educational purposes only. Press the CC button for film titles.
Interviews-
Jacques Tati imitates English and French police officers- bit.ly/2h6E8RR
Cine Regards interview w/Tati (1978)- see the Criterion edition of 'Monsieur Hulot's Holiday'
Marcel Marceau- "The Mask Maker" (1959)- bit.ly/2gDmmEA
Further Reading-
Things Fall Together by David Cairns - bit.ly/2gbc4j4
Composing in Sound and Image by Jonathan Rosenbaum - bit.ly/2h70G7h
You can follow me through:
Twitter- andymsaladino
Vimeo- vimeo.com/theroyaloceanfilmsociety
Apologies to those of you for whom the video isn't working right. I'm not sure what's going on. I've been emailing the folks at TH-cam (who still haven't gotten back to me) to see if we can resolve what's going on. It's not a copyright issue, but a playback one, so whatever's messed up is from TH-cam's end. If this persists, I'll just re-upload, but I would rather not resort to that since I'll lose all the current views and comments. Again, my apologies. If you're still interested, you can find the video here on Vimeo - vimeo.com/194717322
The Royal Ocean Film Society Thank you, man!
Update: Holy. Fucking. Shit. I can finally watch the damn video.
Just tried in California. I got nothing
Germany, nothing happens.
this chain is an example of anecdotal evidence. Germany, cant play
Couldn't play it from Canada
Dang they really got a crazy amount of mileage out of that doorknob joke
Tati milks a gag better than anyone.
Yeah. But in the context of the movie, he has five-or-six gags going on at once. So when you come back to the doorknob, the audience is thinking "Holy shit, I totally forgot about the doorknob bit". And that somehow makes it funnier.
neonatalpenguin haha awesome
That's the idea: you build a world, you play with it. He applied it to set ups too, so they go beyond being setups and become part of the building of the logic of the world, I guess.
Some jokes are funnier when stretched. That one had a lot of possibilities.
I love how at 2:16 they even make the music a bit louder, as if the door is real. This is hilarious.
Wow! Well spotted! Yeah, really effective.
great observation dude
I hadn't noticed! Thanks for giving me another reason to appreciate it. 😊
The glass door and knob gag is the greatest thing ever
Samuel Wallace I know right, that was genuinely incredibly smart and executed flawlessly.
That door knob has given me more laughs in this 10 minute video than are in most movies.
What's best is that not only is it slapstick but it conveys so much about the cultural mentality of the guy who comes to take over on "door duty".
Samuel Wallace, yup, Tati's gags are usually not about funny actions, but about actions typical for certain characters and merely exaggerated to the point of absurdity. It's funny mostly because we recognise the people from our everyday life.
The door knob gag is from Play Time. Watch the whole film, it's genius. He uses visual comedy to comment on the absurdity of modern technology and modern life. Almost every single joke is deep and multi-layered.
I grew up watching Mr Bean, and have only found Tati's films much later. Influences on Rowan Atkinson's character can be found in almost every M. Hulot scene. Makes me appreciate both of these comedians even more.
That one where the rope launches the guy killed me.
Blake Bonecutter i died at the one with the mailman getting flung over his bike with the chain
This compliments that video by every frame a painting really well rather than just iterating on it. Which seems to becoming rare for a video essay about film.
exactly my thought. The one with Keaton.
Satyam Dwivedi
Yes, or the Wright video for that matter.
The first 30 second made me think it was going to be very iterative (like other videos on youtube) he chose different director and a focus on objects, which wasn't explored that much so far.
This type of visual humor is so great! a lot of the examples shown made me laugh, I kinda wish I saw this clever type of comedy used in modern cinema
sup dawg i saw you up in dunkeys comments on this movie as well
Edgar wright does it extremely well
We can make that happen.
I used to think that visual comedy is stupid and spoken comedy is clever but damn, that sure was a stupid take from me!
I laughed harder at the scenes in this video than I have in a comedy movie in a long time.
Josiah Hawkins Then buy Criterion's Tati boxed set!
Then you don't watch very good comedies. There are TONS of great comedies released every year. Missing out, dude.
@@TheGeorgeD13 What would you recommend that's come out this previous year?
The art direction and production design for Mon Oncle is crazy. All the cars, the surrounding area and even the clothes of the office scenes are so stylized. It looks amazing.
The cocaine gag was also a pun too. "I blew it"
And it's a case of "let's explain the joke"
The glass door shattering in Playtime is terrifically funny in your excerpt. What makes it sublime in the movie is that its destruction is the climax of many earlier problematic encounters with the door. As in all great films, with Playtime we realize we are watching the art of a supreme master, who can make a simple prop like a glass door fill us with explosive laughter.
7:12 This has to be the greatest gag in movie history. No matter how many times I watch it, either on this video or on DVD, it never fails to make me smile. Hulot's reaction is priceless.
"Most comedy movies these days are just people standing around and ad-libbing at each other."
THANK YOU!! As someone who's a huge lover of comedy and anything that can get a laugh out of me, it killed me to see every comedy movie after The 40 Year Old Virgin just be a worse version of it (especially since that movies SUCKED to begin with!), and until recently, it felt like I was the only one who felt that way. I'm so glad I'm not.
It’s why I really don’t like most modern comedies
Whenever here in the USA they talk about great comedians or film actors I wonder if they have missed all the great european films. So many are better and funnier than modern american films. Tati is so funny I have his entire collection and none of Adam Sandler to name one.
You might want to watch uncut gems.
I like Adam Sandler films, I like Tati, I like silent comedy, and basically most slapstick. That's what's good about Sandkerr, yes, he can get a bit mouthy but he does do good slapstick too. I could easily say the old films do it the best but you have to give modern films a nod for trying. Leslie Nielsen did so well at them too.
I always think of original Looney Toons cartoons when working with comedy... set-up an expectation, then subvert the expectation. even if you know how the setup/subversion will end, it's still good. first thing that comes to mind is the tunnel painted on a wall. you know the hunted (bugs, road runner) will be able to go through the tunnel but the hunter (fudd, daffy, coyote) will run into the wall; and it's still funny
There's a lengthy sequence in Monsieur Hulot's Holiday where the holidaymakers are waiting on a platform for their train. They end up being shuffled around different platforms and the whole scene has me in stitches every time. There's something oddly familiar about indecipherable announcements in railway stations, wondering if you're on the right platform and being told to go to another platform with seconds to spare that seems universal and exploited to perfection by Tati.
oh my god that door handle scene had me laughing the whole time
This is one of my favorite channel, definitely under appreciated. You should make a video on how TH-cam and other online videos are changing what we think as film.
Jared Bullock That's true, he deserves more subscribers.
Jared Bullock I agree. This is a really good channel, the content is different from other movie video essays. Good to see someone not making videos about the same tired things we've seen over and over. This channel inspired me to start making videos, because I knew different could still be good.
I decided just a few moments ago to search TH-cam for Jacques Tati, and happily came upon this. This brilliant Frenchman's work was introduced to me a few years ago by a dear friend of mine who passed away only recently. Thank you for posting this feature.
FANTASTIC video! I'd been wondering about his films since I saw the Criterion Collection's Complete Jacques Tati set. I laughed all throughout your video, so now I'm absolutely checking his films out.
Also I just watched all the videos on your channel. Great work. I look forward to whatever you put out next!
This is your best essay. I've come back to it monthly for a year and a half.
One of my favourite essays in a long time. Well done!
One of the most well presented videos. Great job!!
Fantastic! I am literally laughing helplessly with tears running from my eyes. Many thanks for this brilliant essay and so many Tati gags one after another!
8:26 dang this one was my favourite, didn't see it coming at all
What a wonderful examination of Tati's work!!! Bravo!!!
Thank you, that was brilliant. Can't wait to see what you share next
Just found your videos and I am loving them! Keep it up! You're very eloquent. They're a joy to watch.
This is great content! Really enjoyed your comparisons in this video.
This channel brings so much content. I love it. Great work
Thank you for this! I was not aware of the work of Jacques Tati, but now I want to watch all his films.
Loved this, thank you for making it!
This is soooo good..
may god bless you..
thank you soo much...
Tools like these never let me think twice of not opting for film school coz there is soooooo much out there...
Great video essays come with great observations.. :D
kudos
Excellent! Thank You to the ones who made it! I´m a big Tati fan from the first moment on i saw "Trafic".
this is the absolute best! Have mainlined all of your vids in one go, you deserve so many more views
the build-up and pay-off of that party scene in Toni erdmann is one of the funniest things I've seen in film
Video essays on Takahata and Tati? You have earned a sub, sir.
Tati took ordinary situations and made them exceptional. SNL takes exceptional situations and makes them ordinary.
Mattchester SNL has sucked ass for many years now
Couldn't disagree more, but I digress. Some people with shit taste just can't be helped.
Now SNL takes extraordinary situations and makes them blatant corporate advertisements and political propaganda lol
SNL == comedians + drugs . That's why it fails.
I know this is meant to be a swipe at SNL, but a lot of the really great deadpan British comedy is based on reacting to an absurd situation as if it's totally normal.
Bravo. Ta vidéo est juste superbe. Du choix des séquences à la narration parfaitement montés, l'analyse fonctionne et nous captive. Bel hommage, un grand merci.
My introduction to this type of comedy was the 3 stooges on TV land on saturday mornings. I went back and watched some episodes for free on vimeo or something, and once I got past the shock to the system involved with watching something from that era and re-entered the universe of physical/visual gags such as the ones in playtime, I found myself belly laughing at some of the bits! Your point about “most modern comedy being 2 people standing improvving at eachother” really hits home, even with some of my favorite comedy from today! Great point, great video, great channel!
love Jacques Tati! Thank you for making this!
I've watched this video so many times...I love all your videos honestly. I re-watch this, Takahata, and Brad Bird all the time.
I really enjoyed this video, I never read or saw much about Tati, but love his films. Your presentation was informative and fun. Lot of good laughs and wonder.
you analyze these so beautifully
Thank you...this is a fantastic post!!!
appreciate what you're doing here. keep it up
This is a very well made video, you did such a great job! I actually laughed, alot!
thank God I found this channel, I love every frame a painting. I don't know if it is my humor but I laughed a lot in this video
Great essay, Loved it!
I'm a big fan of him, thanks for this video!
The tow-rope canal gag isn't complete without the lorry driver's reaction to Mr Hulot's sudden disappearance! Tati's films are a joy - especially these days with large format hd tv's. There is so much going on!
Thank you very much! Lovely video!
Absolutely fantastic! 👏🏻
What a great selection of clips! I laighed so much. I'm a film and photography student and I can't wait to discover Jaques Tati! Thanks :)
Thanks for another great essay :3
Great content! I went from watching Cowboy Bebop to looking up Saul Bass to stumbling on your channel. I need to get back into watching film. Top of the year to ya!
this was very well done and inspired me to check out the director. nice work!
Great analysis and beautifully put together... Subscribed!
SOOOO glad I found your channel..
Excellent analysis. Thank you for allowing my inner film studies major come out to play :-)
Great analysis. Love the channel
Thanks for this video!
Thank you for show me this, really i like a lot of filmmaking, but i really don't know to much, and you my friend, you are teaching me
Andrew...cannot thank you enough for this look at one of the true geniuses of comedy.... we saw 'Monsieur Hulot's Holiday" in about 1959 and that did it.... "Mon Oncle" is a masterpiece.... I truly feel sorry for folks who do not have the chance to relax, turn off the brain for a while and soak up this nectar which is a lot like reading the old Sunday newspaper color funnies. It tweaks one's mind differently, and perhaps increases brain power I suspect.
Really enjoyed this video, I clicked to quickly check it out and stayed to the end. Nice.
thanks so much for this video
Really interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Key and Peele are great at visual comedy or observation comedy like you said, their sketch show on comedy central was by far the funniest thing I've seen in the 2010s and maybe ever. Because it's a mix of what makes a great video sketch:
1) acting: because K&P come from stage improv, so their comedy is very visual and on point
2) writing: they write a lot and only select a few, they're not on a weekly deadline like SNL, they get the people and the time to work on their craft and even throw away what's not good.
So the structures are on point, clear set up, punchline going crescendo. Impeccable writing.
Based on surprising the audience, You'll never guess what's the final punchline or gag is.
3) Cinematography: their sketches looks like films, but more importantly they go by the rule of “show don't tell”, which means that they don't explain jokes, you figure it out by yourself instantly, because of what's shown to you.
That's very difficult to do because you have to start from a very unfunny base which is real day to day things, and make comedy out of that. Whereas most of pop comedy nowadays just make fun of already laughable situation, I find key and Peel is more grounded in reality in an absurd way, they find comedy where I wasn't even searching.
Watch key and peele it's cool, why did I do a comment essay
(Ps: great video, I don't agree with you because as you can see I love nowadays comedy.
I may have a nerd view on it, I mostly watch things like Tomska, Bo Burnham, Key and Peele, Dan Harmon. They're widely popular, but it's still like something else, weird, alternative comedy.
And they really care about everything they do, they're the kind of writers who make the comedy they want to see. Long story short, again, they cool. I oversold them you might not like it now, sorry)
I was taken with the camera placement and choreography of every scene/painting, artistic angle, background foreground, workmen, people in camera, off camera, lights inside and out, buildings far away and close, coats going on and off simultaneously, groups tired seeking rest and those on there way out for a great time. The list endless, hats and ribbons, food trays and innuendo. Enough, but not! Mesmerising. 👋
Fantastic. Nothing better than a good physical gag
I think you're absolutely right! I'm not acting, writing essays or filming a comedy, but this surely is valuable lesson - just need to pick the essence up when needed!
Great video, Tati is criminally underappreciated.
I appreciate you using my music in the background. :)
Great essay!
I adore your videos so much
thank you ! great stuff!
Cool channel. I like that you show how the movies should be made or just how they used to be made. It started off with silent movies where the dialog was used only when necessary, now all you hear is talk, no visuals, just special effects to fill in the large content gap....
visual comedy well explained! thanks! awesome work!
thank you! I had a great time laughing
I actually haven't had that many genuine laughs like this in long time from watching something funny in a movie, I'll check it out
One of my fav film makers ❤
thank you for your review,well done,
Jacques Tati and playtime are some of my favorites
I agree, Playtime is an absolute masterpiece.
That broken glass door scene made me literally burst out laughing wow!
thank you so much.
Really good video.
Subbed in the first 30 seconds, this was awesome!
I think I haven't laughed so hard with a serious TH-cam video ever. Thank u...
PLAYTIME is one of my alltime favorite films - the restaurant segment alone raises this film equal to or higher than classic US comedies such as BRINGING UP BABY, DUCK SOUP, IT'S A GIFT, LOVE AND DEATH, etc.).
Brilliant!
Awesome!!
Brilliant ✨
He is genius!!!! He knows all about comedy, perfomances, frame, rhythm ,observation, style etc ....
Now THIS is a lecture that belongs in ANY basic Film/Film Studies class! My GOD, that's informative.
I wish Film classes would make use of TH-cam videos like this in their courses - especially considering the fact that they're free. Showing this and then building a full lecture around it, would be SO much more informative than just throwing up a few PowerPoint slides with certain vocabulary terms and historical names/dates on them, and then putting on a movie and/or assigning students to watch one.
But then, maybe the guy who taught the one Film Studies course I took was an exception, rather than the rule. And maybe it was only because it was an introductory course. I don't know. But I feel I managed to learn so much more about the subject/medium by perusing TH-cam than I ever could have hoped to in that class. In half of the timeframe too, no less.
Great work Andrew,
Thank you , you are so so so good ! I've learned a lot from you :D It's all about how to make people feel emotions
Great video ^^
Have to admit it's been a long time since I laughed so much xD
One of my favorite moments of visual comedy is in the 1962 Lolita, how Kubrick portrays the movie theater scene. It's definitely worth the watch if you've never seen it.
This is in my recommendations for days now, yet when i try to watch it, every time a error occurs or it lies to me telling me there is no internet connection.
Wow! Thanks for the education!