Jour de fête (1949)

Director:

Jacques Tati

Writers:

Jacques Tati (writer) and
Henri Marquet (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 May 1949 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Once a year the fair comes for one day to the little town 'Sainte-Severe-sur-Indre'. All inhabiters are scoffing at Francois...

Plot Keywords:

Very Little Dialogue | Carnival | Village | Slapstick | Cult Favorite

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Guy Decomble	...	Roger
Jacques Tati	...	François, the postman
Paul Frankeur	...	Marcel
Santa Relli	...	Roger's wife
Maine Vallée	...	Jeannette
Delcassan	...	The tattler
Roger Rafal	...	The hair-dresser
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Balpo
Jacques Beauvais	...	The coffee-house keeper (uncredited)
Alexandre Wirtz	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Tati

Writing credits
Jacques Tati		(writer) and
Henri Marquet		(writer)
René Wheeler		(writer)

Produced by
Michel Chauvin	....	delegate producer (1995 color version)
Fred Orain	....	producer
André Paulvé	....	producer
Pierre Tati	....	assistant delegate producer (1995 color version)

Original Music by
Jean Yatove

Cinematography by
Jacques Mercanton
Jacques Sauvageot

Film Editing by
Marcel Morreau
Sophie Tatischeff		(1995 color version)

Set Decoration by
René Moulaert

Costume Design by
Jacques Cottin

Art Department
André Pierdel	....	property master

Sound Department
Xavier Bonneyrat	....	assistant sound editor
Saveria Deloire	....	sound editor (1995 color version)
Thomas Lefèvre	....	sound editor (1995 color version)
Jacques Maumont	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Isabelle Plazanet	....	digital restoration (1995 color version)
Yves Tulli	....	digital restoration (1995 color version)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean Castagnier	....	assistant camera (as Castagnier)
Nicolas Citovitch	....	assistant camera (as Citovich)
Marcel Franchi	....	camera operator
André Marquette	....	assistant camera (as Marquete)
Roger Moride	....	assistant camera (as Moride)
Jean Mousselle	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Pierre Berlot	....	color timer (1995 color version)
Benjamin Bleton	....	assistant editor (1995 color version)
Camille Laurenti-Ede	....	assistant editor (1995 color version)

Other crew
Christian Ange	....	restoration (1995 color version) (as Christian Angé)
Frédéric Grosjean	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Djibrill Kane	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Franck Le Dû	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Laurent Legrendre	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Pierre-Jean Lievaux	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Virginie Marion	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Aline Montel	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Sarah Postec	....	restoration (1995 color version)
Michel Richard	....	restoration (1995 color version)

Thanks
Gerard Alaux	....	thanks (1995 color version)
Michelle Aubert	....	thanks (1995 color version)
Claude Cadet	....	thanks (1995 color version)
Jean Mousselle	....	thanks (1995 color version)
Jacques Pasquet	....	thanks (1995 color version)
André Pierdel	....	thanks (1995 color version)
Pierre-Jean Thevon	....	thanks (1995 color version)
Claude Ventura	....	thanks (1995 color version)

Production Companies

• Cady Films
• Panoramic Films

Distributors

• Arthur Mayer-Edward Kingsley (1952) (USA) (subtitled)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2003) (UK) (theatrical) (b&w remastered)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• DVD Vidéo (1999) (France) (DVD)
• DisCina
• Future Film (2002) (Finland) (DVD)
• Gala Films (1997) (UK) (color version)
• Helsinki-Filmi (1960) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (New Zealand) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Holiday
The Big Day

Runtime:

70 min | 79 min (restored version) | Finland:86 min (1960) | Argentina:80 min (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema) | Germany:79 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White (original release) | Color (Thomsoncolor) (alternate version, first released after restoration in 1995)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Portugal:M/6 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Germany:6 (nf) (w) | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre, Indre, France

Company:

Cady Films

Trivia:

Many of the gags in this movie were previously used nearly identically in École des facteurs, L' (1947).

Movie Connections:

Remake of École des facteurs, L' (1947)

The bicycle as ideal transport

You see the upcoming problems of traffic in this little village just after the war, I guess somewhere in Normandy where the bicycle of François the postman can drive from village to village. Some cars were driven really dangerously because nobody was conscious of the danger of accidents and some people drove to fast through the villages where everybody still lived on the street: the dogs as well as the chickens as the gooses as the elder people. When François gets drunk he enters the local café and stands in two seconds at the window of the first floor! The movie is full of gags that are inspired by Buster Keaton but absolutely original. The people he has to deliver the letters, peasants and habitants of the village shout at him: "A l'Americaine" which means fast and efficient but one of them also comments that he just should deliver the letters and that this is already quite an accomplishment. And yes, in Belgium postmen are now checked on maximum 9 seconds for delivering a letter. There also calculations to make another tariff for delivering letters in places far away. Jacques Tati is unsurpassed as a French comic and he has a very special place in history of French cinema not to be compared with anyone else.