The great Jacques Tati’s last script has finally been brought to life by the creator of the marvellous Belleville Rendez-Vous, surely a marriage made in heaven. Well, not quite actually. Chomet’s animated version brings back some of Tati’s charm and magic, but the story never quite takes off and is too downbeat to really be as warm as it needs to be.
As anyone who has seen a Tati film will know, the word ‘script’ is somewhat misleading, as his films are virtually dialogue-free, consisting instead of sight gags and mime. That is the case here, as we see Tati’s magician struggling to hold his bored audience in Paris. Despite the old favourites – pulling a rabbit out of a hat, turning a pack of cards into flowers, his audience seem distracted and longing for the miracle of television.
He gets an offer to go to London, where he has a hard act to follow – a band who bare a close resemblance to the Beatles. They leave the auditorium humming with female hormones, so when Tati’s gentle act comes on it’s a disaster.
From foggy rainy London he then heads to the Scottish highlands, where his act is greeted as a miracle by the locals. There he meets a sweet chamber maid, and they bond despite not speaking each others’ language – it is never clear exactly what language she is speaking. He buys her some red shoes – a nod to Powell and Pressburger maybe? After a successful trip Tati then goes to Edinburgh for a lengthy run, and to his surprise his friend comes along with him. Together they tackle the foreign culture and strange ways of Edinburgh, until fate intervenes.
The film looks absolutely ravishing, the animated Paris and Edinburgh look good enough to eat, and the attention to detail is astonishing. The animated Tati is a triumph, capturing perfectly his body language, with the bent back, huge hands and nodding head. It is never quite made clear whether his magic act is supposed to be dated and cheesy or just charmingly old-fashioned, but they look lovely.
The problem is not with the visual style, which is impeccable, it’s with the tone. Tati’s travels across Britain are gloomy and downbeat, and although we are on his side his motives are never made clear, especially with the girl. Towards the end of the film he slips into an Edinburgh cinema and sees Mon Oncle on the screen, the real-life Tati. It’s a reminder of how his films were so witty and full of life, which is in stark contrast to proceedings here, which remain determinedly gloomy throughout.
Belleville Rendez-Vous had its share of sadness too, but here it seems laid on a bit thick, with only the occasional sight gag to lighten the mood. A shame, because it’s obviously been painstakingly put together by real Tati fans.
Overall verdict: Doomy version of a Tati film, with wonderful animation and music but a resolutely grim mood.
Reviewer: Mike Martin
