Jacques Tati

Originally a mime[?], in the late 1930s he recorded some of his early sporting cameos on film with some success and thus began his career as a film-maker.

His first major feature, Jour de Fête, concerns a village postman who is influenced by a film shown at the village fair to go to extreme lengths to improve his mail deliveries.

In all his films, Tati plays the lead and, from his second feature film (Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot) onwards this character is always the gauche and socially inept Monsieur Hulot.

Select filmography

• Jour de Fête
• Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot
• Mon Oncle
• Traffic
• Playtime