Tati's last film -- done as a TV Special in Sweden -- is a circus show. Tati appears as the master of ceremonies and does three or four of his skits. There is a brass band. There are acrobats and jugglers and Pia Colombo sings the theme song towards the end. She sings it like she's Piaf singing "Je Ne Regrette Rien". It's a pleasant show.
Like I said, it's Tati's last movie (although I am sure he hoped otherwise), done after PLAYTIME and TRAFFIC had been bankrupting flops. So did Tati make this, thinking he'd do some of his old routines, make a few kronas and see if he could get back to his real projects? It's a tempting idea, and one could hardly blame Tati. He is adored by many, disliked by a few. I think he was a serious artist who used his clowning to comment on a deep dissatisfaction with the modern world, and his self-aware disdain for speed and technology and the latest fad were at the heart of his movies. And because of his artistic certainty and lack of anyone to tell him no, he had forgotten that film is a commercial art, and you can never forget the audience you are making it for.... its size, as well as its empathy.
Notice the painted audience members on the sets. Notice the shots of the audience, as they enter, as they observe, as they enter the ring for one or two events, and as they leave. I think Tati was telling himself, if not his audience, that he had to be more careful in the future, remember who he was making his movies for. It's a shame he never got another chance.
Like I said, it's Tati's last movie (although I am sure he hoped otherwise), done after PLAYTIME and TRAFFIC had been bankrupting flops. So did Tati make this, thinking he'd do some of his old routines, make a few kronas and see if he could get back to his real projects? It's a tempting idea, and one could hardly blame Tati. He is adored by many, disliked by a few. I think he was a serious artist who used his clowning to comment on a deep dissatisfaction with the modern world, and his self-aware disdain for speed and technology and the latest fad were at the heart of his movies. And because of his artistic certainty and lack of anyone to tell him no, he had forgotten that film is a commercial art, and you can never forget the audience you are making it for.... its size, as well as its empathy.
Notice the painted audience members on the sets. Notice the shots of the audience, as they enter, as they observe, as they enter the ring for one or two events, and as they leave. I think Tati was telling himself, if not his audience, that he had to be more careful in the future, remember who he was making his movies for. It's a shame he never got another chance.