Parade by Jacque Tati
September 19th 2008 00:28
Today's dose of Filthy Fridays is an unusual, somewhat bizarre selection. The aim of Filthy Fridays is to highlight the films that expose or play on our fleshy desires, those hedonistic pursuits that result in nothing more than pleasure.
True, most of the picks for Filthy Fridays have been oriented around sex and lust, as this is the most scandalous of all the deadly sins. Anger and gluttony are commonly acceptable, especially if you're in the army or a Wall Street investment bank. Sex, though, is renounced as vile by our puritanical background in North America.
The Puritans held a grim expression to life, and wanted further reforms than the Church of England allowed. Abused and taunted, they fled to America, where they lived in sanctimonious freedom from earthly pleasures.
Without a doubt, the Puritans would have sneeringly disapproved of "Parade", the final film from Jacque Tati, the masterful French director and performer. Tati struggled to get funding for films in his later years, and made this for Swedish television, where he organized a wonderfully creative circus and filmed it in a dreamlike narrative fashion.
"Parade" wasn't enjoyed by many audiences, but now, released on DVD, there's an enviable charm to it, capturing a bit of life in 1974. The big glasses, the hairdos, the energy of rock and roll, all captured at the circus, another grand human tradition that disappeared.
Now, we're subjected to digital pleasures, and we've grown uninterested in the trappings of the circus.
My argument is that the circus is one of the foremost displays of zesty human flesh. Bodies twisted and shaped to perform seemingly miraculous acts, all within the joyous colours of the bright lights. The performers, scripted together to produce laughs and jeers, the jugglers, still amazing 30 years later.
And, something that you'd never see today, for fear of litigation, audience members trying to ride a kicking donkey:
Presiding over the entire event, Tati plays the ringmaster, delighting the audience with his stage performances. Before Mr. Bean and after Charlie Chaplin, Tati was a master of physical comedy, a skill that has fallen from public view, but guides the hands and legs of every successful comedian.
Eventually, though, the circus ends, and there's a moment of solemn sorrow as the lights and colours are turned down, and two children come out of the audience to play with the discarded props and set. Those two children would be close to 40 today and probably have forgotten about the magic of the circus, much like you and I have. Much like Tati's audiences dissipated into the wind as he struggled to find financing for his brand of comedy.
"Parade" is a wonderful snapshot of a time long forgotten - I wasn't alive in the 70s, but it thrilled me to see entertainment that wasn't, in the slightest, modified by electronics and special effects. Flesh on display, molded and reformed for your amusement - this is how, historically, humans entertained each other, with song, dance and theatre. Still, over 30 years later, it brought a great big smile to my face.
I say: I loved it, not for the cinematic quality, though Tati's direction makes this live event look like the tattered fragments of a quickly fading dream. No, I loved it for the sheer rambunctiousness of spirit displayed at the circus.
See it for: Tati seeds the audience with members that interact with the circus and it's all a very good show.
*this image is from the fantastic blog, If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger...
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
That entire Tati box set is golden. Parade is an interesting swan song from the great filmmaker.
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
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Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
It's cruel - there's just not enough hours in the day to absorb all these amazing films. Some days I wish I was an incurable insomniac!
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
For that alone, I'd probably check out this movie.
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
yeah, insomniac! Great for film freaks!
Kylie - whoa, this is really a nice film to show your kids, or, like you mentioned, something to inspire you to take them to the circus!