Jacques Tati: His Life and Art (Panther S) - Softcover

Bellos, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1860469248 ISBN 13: 9781860469244

Publisher: Vintage, 2001

Synopsis

The full story of one of France's greatest cinema legends, a clown whose film-making innovation was to turn everyday life into an art form.

Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot, unmistakable with his pipe, brolly and striped socks, was a creation of slapstick genius that made audiences around the world laugh at the sheer absurdity of life. This biography charts Tati's rise and fall, from his earliest beginnings as a music hall mime during the Depression, to the success of Jour de Fête and Mon Oncle, to Playtime, the grandiose masterpiece that left the once celebrated director bankrupt and begging for equipment to complete his final films.

Analysing Tati's singular vision, Bellos reveals the intricate staging of his most famous gags and draws upon hitherto inaccessible archives to produce a unique assessment of his work and its context for film lovers and film students alike.

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: Vintage
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1860469248
• ISBN 13: 9781860469244
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400