Jour de fête (The Big Day)

I left the theatre with three distinct thoughts mulling about in my head. 

First, Jacques Tati is a physical comedy genius. He made the acrobatics with his bicycle look effortless, but the amount of work and precision that went into creating that illusion were immense. 

My second thought was that the foley experts must have had a blast! Every rooster crow, squishy shoe, bee buzz and bonk on the head were accentuated. There were sounds on top of sounds. I could just see the foley studio in a hubbub of one-upmanship. 

Third, was the love/hate theme of France and the United States. Tati’s character was impressed with  U.S. modernity, but resented it as well. It’s as if the U.S. was infiltrating their lives and culture (Can you say McDonalds?). A fitting line in the film could be, “Yes, we are grateful for all you have done, now please go home.”  

I’m very interested in seeing Mon Oncle soon.