Jacques Tati Essential Collection Blu-ray Review

Director: Jacques Tati

Starring: Jacques Tati

Running Time: TBC

Certificate: PG

What can be said about the legend that is Jacques Tati which has yet to be said? Throughout his career Tati created a series of exceptional comedic adventures which also captured his very French spirit as well as often giving us a slice of light yet powerful social commentary. This astonishing collection brings together 6 of the writer/director/actor’s most iconic features as well as a disc containing his exemplary short films.

Tati’s films mostly provide a masterclass in visual comedy. Tati was a man just vacating the silent era and so often put dialogue behind the aesthetics and scene construction. This wasn’t always the case though, and Tati was also very adept at writing quaint and memorable exchanges, as evidenced in THE BIG DAY.

Tati was also an accomplished comedic actor and invented one of cinema’s greatest creations, M. Hulot. Despite being created in the era of sound M. Hulot was just as physically funny as greats such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin and was the inspiration for many a muted comic characters since, most notably Mr. Bean. LES VACANCES DE M. HULOT is true gem of cinema which really must be seen by anyone interested in film. Tati would bring back the character for a further three films, with the absolute highlight being PLAYTIME, but everyone a remarkable piece of work, all of which are available here.

There is simply too much praise to be lavished upon this beautifully assembled set. It is a rare case where the “Essential” tag is not just separating a director’s lesser work from their classics, but is a literal title in the sense that you need this in our collection. Pay the price, even if you are going in blind, because this is one collection no one will regret owning.

[usr=5]The Jacques Tati Essential Collection is available on Blu-ray from 21st July.