The Jacques Tati Collection



Jacques Tati is considered by many to have been one of the 20th Century's greatest filmmakers. His ability to captivate audiences with a humour that is almost entirely visual is simply a joy to behold. Packaged here together for the first time, with a host of extra features, are five of Jacques Tati's most cherished films.

Jour de fete (1949)
A hilarious expose of the modern obsession of with speed and efficiency, Jacques Tati's award winning feature debut is a dazzling blend of satire and slapstick.

Les Vacances de M. Hulot (1953)
The film that brought Jacques Tati international acclaim also launched his on-screen alter ego: the courteous, well-meaning eternally accident-prone Monsieur Hulot.

Mon Oncle (1958)
Jacques Tati's third feature is a satirical assault on the twin targets of efficiency and the modern world. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and a Special Prize at Cannes.

Playtime (1967)
Regarded by many as Jacques Tati's masterpiece, Playtime is a surreal comic vision of mankind's battle against the overwhelming depersonalisation of modern life.

Parade (1974)
Tati's last film sees his return to the boisterous music hall world in which he began his career as a mime artist in the 1930s. The perfect stage for Tati's comic genius.

Extras
- Interview with filmmaker Richard Lester on Tati
- Playtime feature commentary by film historian Philip Kemp
- Short Documentary Au-dela de Playtime
- Continuity supervisor Sylvette Baudrot on Tati and Playtime
- Director biography and short film about Tati
- Interview with Tati, filmed in London (1977,19 min)
- Original Tati trailers
- Fully illustrated colour booklets containing commissioned sleeve notes, essays and biographies.

Kind of weird that this wouldn't include Trafic.

Not really considering there's never been a previous BFI release

Are we to take it that none of the features have changed from their previous BFI incarnations? If this was a remastered Mon Oncle/Les Vacances... I'd snap it up in no time... As it is I still may...

Les Films de mon Oncle has announced:
'Les Films de mon oncle' s'apprête à éditer Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot dans une version restaurée et riche en bonus. Deux DVD seront présent dans le coffret : le premier proposera la version de 1978 restaurée en 2009. Côté bonus, on y trouvera la visite de l’exposition Jacques Tati, 2 temps 3 mouvements à la Cinémathèque française, un film d’analyse de Stéphane Goudet (Beau temps, vent léger) et un documentaire sur la restauration du film.
Le second disque sera consacré à la version de 1953 et bénéficiera d'un nouveau master. Les suppléments seront également abondants avec 'Oh un coquillage !' (Documentaire sur les témoins du tournage), Les complices de Tati à l’écran, les films annonces des 3 versions et de nombreuses surprises (publicités réalisées par Tati, interviews de cinéastes et de personnalités,…).

Date de sortie : 10 novembre 2009

So: a 2-dvd for release Nov. 1 including the 1978 edit, restored in 2009, the 1953 edit remastered, a resto docu, analysis featurette by Goudet, commercials directed by Tati, trailers for three versions, interviews, docu on the shooting and more.

Sad that BFI could not include the little-known 1978 short Tati made from footage of football crowds. Apparently very hard to find.

I now have a final production copy of the Tati box.

As I suspected, it consists of the five original BFI DVDs (I compared Mon Oncle with the standalone release and it appears to be exactly the same disc, even down to the old BFI logo), but they've been repackaged into five slimline Amaray cases and a single 24-page booklet, which appears to compile all the essays/biographies that accompanied the original releases. And all of this is enclosed in a single reasonably thick cardboard sleeve.

It's probably safe to assume that the same will be true of the other two BFI collections (Film Noir/Terence Davies).

Michael_B, if you happen to own a copy of CC's Mon Oncle, I'd be interested to hear how the BFI's transfer compares - I found the CC disappointing and would double-dip on the BFI if the image is superior.

Michael can I also second Mr Finch's request, I'm clueless over which to buy

Just cos you boys are in Edina doesn't mean you shouldn't add this to the mix
http://www.dvdrama.com/rw_fiche-5787-.php

Grabs for Jour de Fête uploaded here, chosen to match this Beaver review of the Future Film edition (I think it's a pretty safe bet that both discs are from the same source).

Grabs for Mon Oncle uploaded here, chosen to match this Beaver comparison (between the Criterion and Atlantic Film editions).

More to come...

Thank you thank you thank you

So whats the conclusions? The quality seems around the same level. Atleast its not something to double dip for. I have the atlantic box, which im pretty sure identical the future one (the 2 compared in the beaver links). I just to a look on mine, and contrary of Mr Finch i found the picture on "Mon Uncle" to be fine, but bad on the "Jour de fete".

I think there's a strong possibility/probability that the BFI discs are sourced from the same masters as the Atlantic/Future releases - Jour de Fête in particular looks all but identical.

On the subject of the latter being "bad", I suspect that this film's technical history, particularly the ropey colour process, means that a completely pristine image is pretty much unachievable - certainly, it looked fine to me in motion with various allowances for colour fluctuations (anyone familiar with 1960s Soviet colour films will know what I mean!)

Just wanted to add my thanks for posting the Mon Oncle caps, Mike - it's very much appreciated.

In the absence of any screen grabs I can find from the Les films de Mon Oncle restoration do you know if the BFI is sourced from this version and, if there is a relationship with Les Films, does this mean that the Vacances resto might also be forthcoming?

Fantastic news! Who's releasing it? I can't uncover a listing for this on Amazon France or UK, or anywhere else for that matter -- where did you find this?


That's Forza Bastia, filmed by Tati and completed by his daughter Sophie long after his death. In 2007 it was given away as a DVD in issue 46 of the French sports magazine "So Foot," so you can always try to track that down. If nothing else, it can be seen on Google video here.

Your in depth search obviously didn't take you one message up. It's Les films de mon oncle and the amazon listing is here
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B ... FK5RDHNB96

Thank you for your helpful and condescending reply. Incidentally, "Les films de mon oncle was set up in 2001 on the initiative of Sophie Tatischeff, Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff to preserve, restore and circulate Jacques Tati’s works." So they are not the label releasing the DVD, which is what I was asking. I have no idea why my Amazon.fr search for "Hulot" on DVD did not turn up this edition, but thanks for the link.

Condescending? Moi?

According to the image showing the spine available on FNAC, the releasing company is Naïve.

Thanks Matt. Oddly enough that didn't show up in my FNAC search either. Perhaps in my sleepless state I misspelled "Hulot."

DVD Beaver now has comparisons for Jour de Fête, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, Mon Oncle and Parade. They already had a comparison for Playtime, and the disc in the new box set is the same as the old BFI one.

Interesting that the BFI's Vacances has more info on all four sides than the Criterion. Might doubledip sometime since I like the BFI's artwork better than Criterion's.

Yes, I was pretty surprised when I noticed that as well. The set is really magnificent, and as I said in the review, even if you own the Criterions or the Finish discs, BFI's are definitely worth considering. And on a side note, I just realized that I capped the wrong image for the fifth picture. Oops.

I own Les Films de mon Oncle’s 2-DVD edition of Mon Oncle – it’s English-friendly, has two versions of the film (using latest restoration, I believe) and a lot of extras – much better choice than either CC or BFI.

On the other hand, their Playtime is not English-friendly.

I’m very excited about this, new edition of Mr Hulo; Amazon.fr lists Nov 17 as an availability date.

I’ll appreciate if someone can in the future post info on whether this new DVD is English-friendly or not…