Jacques Tati His Life & Art: His Life and Art - Hardcover

Bellos, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1860466516 ISBN 13: 9781860466519

Publisher: Harvill Press, 1999

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

"[An] outstanding filmmaker biography... Deconstructs the French comedian-auteur as if he were an intricate human clock mechanism, which in some ways he was" (Nigel Andrews Financial Times)

"The best of the year’s biographies...David Bellos examines with perception and style how the creator of Monsieur Hulot staked a legitimate claim in a rapidly changing medium to the mantle once worn by Chaplin and Keaton" (John Coldstream Daily Telegraph)

"Elegantly written and illustrated, brilliantly illuminating about the work... this is a book of which Jacques Tati, who was extremely proud of his work but never thought much of himself, would surely approve" (Margot Norman Literary Review)

"This splendidly illustrated book pays a handsome tribute to a comic creator whose craft was an art which turned a delight in human absurdity into the most accessible form of sanity" (David Coward Times Literary Supplement)

From the Publisher:

Brilliant reviews for masterly biography
David Bellos's biography of the great film-maker Jacques Tati has received outstanding reviews. Here is a selection of them:

"The best of the year’s biographies is Jacques Tati: His Life and Art, in which David Bellos examines with perception and style how the creator of Monsieur Hulot staked a legitimate claim in a rapidly changing medium to the mantle once worn by Chaplin and Keaton" John Coldstream, Daily Telegraph

" . . . outstanding filmaker biography . . . deconstructs the a French comedian-auteur as if he were an intricate human clock mechanism, which in some ways he was" Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

"David Bellos is rather more discriminating in his definitive life of Jacques Tati but the French clown still comes across as Mr Bean for snobs" Mark Sanderson, Evening Standard

" . . . elegantly written and illustrated, brilliantly illuminating about the work . . . This is a book of which Jacques Tati, who was extremely proud of his work but never thought much of himself, would surely approve" Margot Norman, Literary Review

"This splendidly illustrated book pays a handsome tribute to a comic creator whose craft was an art which turned a delight in human absurdity into the most accessible form of sanity" David Coward, TLS

" . . . this book is full of insight as well as information . . . Bellos proves a lucid commentator on this strange body of work . . . The thought that a piece of slipshod, invention-free, self-satisfied garbage like Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me can clean up at the box office while Playtime remains released in the US and all but forgotten in Europe . . . Well, not even Tati’s work, nor Bellos’s measured and affectionate tribute to it, can reconcile me to the horror of that" Jonathan Coe, LRB

" . . . excellent biography . . . about one of the funniest men in history" Joseph Farrell, Herald

"Fascinating and suitably unconventional Life ... David Bellos is a scholary resourceful proponent of a particular kind of genius." John Coldstream, Daily Telegraph

"... this fine new biography... Bellos provides a marvellous toothcomb analysis of Tati’s six feature films and passionately argues for their greatness . . . superbly written book" Ian Thomson, Independent on Sunday

"This is a studied, thoughtful biography written in an unhurried style which explores Jacques Tati’s films with methodical care and precision" Ian Graham, Irish Independent

""there has been a handful of Tati studies, the usual mirthless dissertations analysing his humour, but this book, by a Princeton lecturer on French literature, fills a biographical gap" Peter Lewis, The Oldie

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvill Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1860466516
• ISBN 13: 9781860466519
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400