Jacques Tati got an idea to create a comical postman character named Francois. He first got to try him in a short film L'école des facteurs (1947, The School for Postmen), which was first supposed to be directed by Rene Clement, who had directed a few shorts with Tati, but after Rene got sick Jacques Tati decided to direct it himself. The audience loved it and the producer asked Tati to make a full-length version of it? Instantly Jacques Tati started working on it. He used many of the same gags he had used in The School for Postmen, but added a deeper level; made the film more personal, symbolic and allegorical.
When France was occupied by Nazi Germany during WWII, Jacques Tati decided to go live in a small village. He promised to the people that if he'd keep making films after the war he would come back to the village to make a film. Well, after the war was over he kept his promise. This is one of the main reasons what why this film was successful; most of the people who acted in it were actual citizens of the village, they were the same people who helped Tati during the war. Jour de fete was made with an incredibly low-budget, basically the cast and the crew worked without salary, they decided to make the film and if it would make money they'd get it. So the cast & crew was very close and in it with their hearts.
In Jour de fete the peace of the small village is broken by aliens - the market people. The people who come to the village try to change it, bring something new to it, infiltrate to it. This is allegorical to Jacques Tati's earlier situation, when the Germans came to France, occupied it and changed it. It's a film against imperialism, this is one way too look at it. But there are several more interpretations and things to look at Jour de fete.
The other is the Americanization of France (and the rest of the world). Many film historians have researched how The Marshall Plan affected cinema; it had the strongest impact on Italy, but many state that the deepest study and influence can be seen in Tati's Jour de fete. Well of course the people who come to the village can represent this and globalization, but the most obvious reference is when Francois starts to compete with the Americans. This is quite a melancholy sequence in Jour de fete (Jacques Tati was always very good in combining melancholy and hilarity); the villagers decide to water Francois drunk and after that show him a documentary about American postmen whose mail work much better, they can post letters and packages much faster with airplanes and helicopters. After seeing this Francois feels the need to try compete with the Americans - starts delivering the mailings much more faster and the villagers joke at the expense of him.
This is a hilarious sequence where Francois hardly tries to work as fast as the Americans but just ends up losing the control of his bike and destroying mailings. Many have written long studies based on this one sequence. Jour de fete is basically a tribute to the burlesque comedy, to the American masters that Tati admired; Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. In this sequence Jacques Tati makes some clear references to The General (1926) a film by Buster Keaton. In The General Buster Keaton loses the control of his train, in which his girl is in. He starts running after it just as Francois does after his bike. The scene where Francois just almost gets the bike is taken directly from The General, when Keaton runs through the woods and just almost catches the train.
Jour de fete of course isn't just a tribute to these American masters; Jacques Tati was bored at only seeing American films like this, he wanted to make a French one and in the posters of Jour de fete he challenged the people to support French cinema instead of American. The scene where Francois tries desperately to erect the French flag at the center of the village is very symbolic; Jacques Tati tries to erect the flag of French cinema to the American ground (burlesque comedy).
In addition to the deep content of the film it's aesthetically gorgeous. Jacques Tati decided to make the first French color film, but because he wasn't sure of the technique they used two different cameras: one black-and-white and one Technicolor. Unfortunately they couldn't make it work in the laboratory and had to use the black and white version, which Jacques Tati didn't like. After his death his daughter Sophie Tatischeff made a new restored version with the colors his father wanted. This allows us to see it in its original form and I think it really needs to be seen in colors. Because Tati planned it to be a color film it obviously has some meaningful parts that don't work in black and white. It's aesthetically, but also narratively important.
This is a very good film after it was finished it instantly became very popular and the producers suggested Jacques Tati to continue making films with the character, Francois. But he wanted to make another character, which would have a wider meaning. In result of this born Mr. Hulot who Jacques Tati played in 4 films. Jour de fete is his first full-length feature, but still stands out as a masterful film.
When France was occupied by Nazi Germany during WWII, Jacques Tati decided to go live in a small village. He promised to the people that if he'd keep making films after the war he would come back to the village to make a film. Well, after the war was over he kept his promise. This is one of the main reasons what why this film was successful; most of the people who acted in it were actual citizens of the village, they were the same people who helped Tati during the war. Jour de fete was made with an incredibly low-budget, basically the cast and the crew worked without salary, they decided to make the film and if it would make money they'd get it. So the cast & crew was very close and in it with their hearts.
In Jour de fete the peace of the small village is broken by aliens - the market people. The people who come to the village try to change it, bring something new to it, infiltrate to it. This is allegorical to Jacques Tati's earlier situation, when the Germans came to France, occupied it and changed it. It's a film against imperialism, this is one way too look at it. But there are several more interpretations and things to look at Jour de fete.
The other is the Americanization of France (and the rest of the world). Many film historians have researched how The Marshall Plan affected cinema; it had the strongest impact on Italy, but many state that the deepest study and influence can be seen in Tati's Jour de fete. Well of course the people who come to the village can represent this and globalization, but the most obvious reference is when Francois starts to compete with the Americans. This is quite a melancholy sequence in Jour de fete (Jacques Tati was always very good in combining melancholy and hilarity); the villagers decide to water Francois drunk and after that show him a documentary about American postmen whose mail work much better, they can post letters and packages much faster with airplanes and helicopters. After seeing this Francois feels the need to try compete with the Americans - starts delivering the mailings much more faster and the villagers joke at the expense of him.
This is a hilarious sequence where Francois hardly tries to work as fast as the Americans but just ends up losing the control of his bike and destroying mailings. Many have written long studies based on this one sequence. Jour de fete is basically a tribute to the burlesque comedy, to the American masters that Tati admired; Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. In this sequence Jacques Tati makes some clear references to The General (1926) a film by Buster Keaton. In The General Buster Keaton loses the control of his train, in which his girl is in. He starts running after it just as Francois does after his bike. The scene where Francois just almost gets the bike is taken directly from The General, when Keaton runs through the woods and just almost catches the train.
Jour de fete of course isn't just a tribute to these American masters; Jacques Tati was bored at only seeing American films like this, he wanted to make a French one and in the posters of Jour de fete he challenged the people to support French cinema instead of American. The scene where Francois tries desperately to erect the French flag at the center of the village is very symbolic; Jacques Tati tries to erect the flag of French cinema to the American ground (burlesque comedy).
In addition to the deep content of the film it's aesthetically gorgeous. Jacques Tati decided to make the first French color film, but because he wasn't sure of the technique they used two different cameras: one black-and-white and one Technicolor. Unfortunately they couldn't make it work in the laboratory and had to use the black and white version, which Jacques Tati didn't like. After his death his daughter Sophie Tatischeff made a new restored version with the colors his father wanted. This allows us to see it in its original form and I think it really needs to be seen in colors. Because Tati planned it to be a color film it obviously has some meaningful parts that don't work in black and white. It's aesthetically, but also narratively important.
This is a very good film after it was finished it instantly became very popular and the producers suggested Jacques Tati to continue making films with the character, Francois. But he wanted to make another character, which would have a wider meaning. In result of this born Mr. Hulot who Jacques Tati played in 4 films. Jour de fete is his first full-length feature, but still stands out as a masterful film.