Tati Night

Tati’s magnum opus: Monsieur Hulot becomes ensnared in a cold, mind-numbing Paris full of glass and steel architecture. Tati had a film city, ‘Tativille’, built for the shoot. To capture the insular character of the city, he decided to use wide screen 70 mm film and primarily used wide shots which his characters seem lost in.

Monsieur Hulot’s modest role and Tati’s ambitions (‘I fight for the individual in an increasingly dehumanising world’) alienated audiences and critics alike. Today, the film is widely recognised as Tati’s masterpiece.

Great comedian

Jacques Tati started shooting Playtime (1967) in 1964. He invested his entire capital in the production, yet saw his efforts misjudged by both audiences and critics. Playtime’s failure signalled the end of Tati's career. Although, Jacques Tati (1907 - 1982) only made six films during his lifetime, he is considered one of the principal, post-war filmmakers, the auteur of a timeless oeuvre and, above all else, a great comedian.

Tati was the director, leading actor, scriptwriter and producer of all his films. A few years before his death, he received a César for his entire oeuvre. His inventive use of sound and visual details influenced countless filmmakers including Paul Thomas Anderson and Alex van Warmerdam.