Based on a script by the late great Jacques Tati the
French comic genius and directed by Sylvain Chomet ('The Triplets of Belleville')
one knew that this film would have to be good.
And probably even much better than that. And it
was, and more.
The story involves a sad lanky French magician named Tatischeff
who is slowly coming to realize that now it's the early 1960’s the Music Halls
are a dying art. He therefore has to
take work wherever he can and when he lands up in a Pub on a remote Scottish
island, he discovers he has one fan at least.
She follows him to Edinburgh and cooks, cleans and does everything to
make him happy (other than THAT!). He
lavishes what little money he has on her even though he now struggles to find
any work at all, and she is making eyes at the handsome young romeo that lives next door.
If you have seen ‘the Triplets’ then you will know the
wonderful exaggerated sense of style of Chomet’s beautiful animation that is a
sheer joy to watch. (If you haven’t seen
it, where have you been?) Tatischeff is
a re-incarnation of Tati’s M. Hulot and is as poignantly funny, though of course nothing ever goes right for him. And once again M. Chomet proves that words are really not
necessary to tell a story.
I first viewed this in London c. 18 months ago when
it was just released, but never got around to ‘blogging it’ which was the main
reason I sat down to watch it again. I’m
so pleased that I did because there is so much wonderful fine detail in every
nuance of the film that I had somehow overlooked or had simply forgotten.
A worthy successor to his Oscar Nominated ‘Triplets’
and I’d like to think that M Tati would approve too. If you didn't see it first time around, its now available
on DVD, put it on your 'Must See List'.
★★★★★★★★★
★★★★★★★★★
