Jacques Tati by David Bellos
A Frenchman of Russian origins, Jacques Tati worked as a picture-framer and a music-hall mime before being drawn into the world of the French cinema and making the films that rank him with the most popular comedy actor/directors in any country. He brought to his filmsJour de Fete, Monsieur Hulot's Holidays, Mon Oncle, Playtime and othersa healthy openness to new technology in movie-making and a rigorous precision, the hallmark of many great clowns, in the execution of each scene. In this, the first complete, authoritative biography of the French icon, David Bellos has had the complete collaboration of Tati's daughter, and the freedom to examine hitherto inaccessible archives including film footage, videos, taped interviews, and early drafts of shooting scripts. What emerges is the picture of a man at once dedicated, impassioned, and shy, more an artist than a man of business.
[An] outstanding filmmaker biography.. Deconstructs the French comedian-auteur as if he were an intricate human clock mechanism, which in some ways he was -- Nigel Andrews * Financial Times *
The best of the year’s biographies...David Bellos examines with perception and style how the creator of Monsieur Hulot staked a legitimate claim in a rapidly changing medium to the mantle once worn by Chaplin and Keaton -- John Coldstream * Daily Telegraph *
Elegantly written and illustrated, brilliantly illuminating about the work... this is a book of which Jacques Tati, who was extremely proud of his work but never thought much of himself, would surely approve -- Margot Norman * Literary Review *
This splendidly illustrated book pays a handsome tribute to a comic creator whose craft was an art which turned a delight in human absurdity into the most accessible form of sanity -- David Coward * Times Literary Supplement *
The best of the year’s biographies...David Bellos examines with perception and style how the creator of Monsieur Hulot staked a legitimate claim in a rapidly changing medium to the mantle once worn by Chaplin and Keaton -- John Coldstream * Daily Telegraph *
Elegantly written and illustrated, brilliantly illuminating about the work... this is a book of which Jacques Tati, who was extremely proud of his work but never thought much of himself, would surely approve -- Margot Norman * Literary Review *
This splendidly illustrated book pays a handsome tribute to a comic creator whose craft was an art which turned a delight in human absurdity into the most accessible form of sanity -- David Coward * Times Literary Supplement *
David Bellos is a professor of French and Comparative Literature at Princeton where he is also director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication. He won the Prix Goncourt de la Biographie for George Perec: A Life in Words. He also won the IBM-France prize for his translated W or The Memory of Childhood, Things: A Story of the Sixties and 53 Days, all major works by George Perec. In 2005 he won the Man Booker International translator’s award for his translations of several works by the Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781860469244 |
| ISBN 10 | 1860469248 |
| Title | Jacques Tati |
| Author | David Bellos |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 2001-09-20 |
| Number of pages | 400 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |