Jour de fête

The Big Day

by Jacques Tati

France - 1949

Sunday, June 2th • 9AM
At Chaktomuk

Feature Film - 70mn

B&W

French with English subtitles

Screenplay Jacques Tati

Cinematography Jacques Mercanton, Jacques Sauvageot

Music Lyrics Jacques Tati, Henri Marquet, René Wheeler

Cast Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankleur, Santa Relli

Format 35 mm - Mono

Genre Comedy

First Release May 4, 1949

Restored version 2013

Awards 1949: Best Writing at Venise Mostra, 1950: Grand prix du cinéma français

Production Fred Orain, André Paulvé

Synopsis Jour de fête (The Big Day), tells the story of an inept rural village postman who interrupts his duties to inspect the traveling fair that has come to town. Influenced by too much wine and a documentary on the rapidity of the American postal service, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed his mail deliveries aboard his bicycle. Tati filmed it in 1947 in the village of Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre where he had found refuge during the war

About In Jour de fête, several characteristics of Tati’s work appear for the first time in a full-length film. The film is largely a visual comedy, though dialogue is still used to tell part of the story, at one point using a background character as a narrator. Sound effects are a key element of the film, as Tati makes imaginative use of voices and other background noises to provide humorous effect. The film introduces what would be a key theme in Tati films, the over-reliance of Western society on technology to solve its (perceived) problems.

Selected filmography of Jacques Tati
(1907-1982)

1949 – Jour de fête

1958 – Mon oncle

1967 – Playtime

1971 – Trafic