The Definitive Jacques Tati

Monsieur Hulot's Humor (Re)discover the life and work of the visionary Jacques Tati Oscar-winning French director/performer Jacques Tati (1907-1982) was a fiercely innovative and original filmmaker who found inspiration in the observation of life around him.

By creating and playing unassuming characters thrown into the bustle of society--the hapless postman Francois and the maladroit Monsieur Hulot--Tati brilliantly exposed the ways in which class distinctions, social mores, architecture, and technology affect the basic ways that humans relate to one another. Unlike Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, to whom he has frequently been compared, Tati took the everyday and recreated it, layered organically with visual and audio gags, for the audience to actively observe.

His early work as a mime taught him how to generate laughter without words; in his films he used gestures, facial expressions, costumes, props, sets, sounds--everything but dialogue--to do the talking. Tati's films are truly universal and accessible to anyone, anywhere, who can appreciate the comedy of modern life.

Tati once said "I want the film to begin when you leave the theater." His greatest achievement was to show us that together, as the whole of humanity, we are characters starring in the greatest spectacle of all: life itself. Made with complete access to Tati's archives, this five-volume Collector's Edition box set, designed by M/M (Paris), is a comprehensive exploration of his life and work featuring: Hundreds of photographs and film stills, the complete screenplays, selected interviews, original essays, and a vast selection of documents, letters, sketches, and notes. A fold-out "board game" of the Mon Oncle set, complete with figurines of the main characters, a toy movie camera, and a director's viewfinder so you can stage scenes or create your own. An electronic sound box programmed with a selection of key sound effects from Tati's films.