I came to this movie with a bias against slapstick as personified by Chaplin, a tolerance for the Buster Keaton variety and a definite leaning towards Laurel and Hardy. Tati, of course is neither yet has elements of all three (or four if you're a pedant). The word that springs to mind is 'gentle' for whilst there is definite satire at work it's satire with its teeth drawn. Tati wants us to love French provincial life as he loves it and rage against 'modernisation' and clearly you will enjoy his oeuvre more if you are sympathetic to his cause. Much has been made in the reviews I've read here of the color aspect but as I see it this is beside the point. If color was a necessity for any points he wanted to make then he would have abandoned the project until a color system could be perfected rather than shoot a black and white back-up version. What really matters is the story or lack of same and the way in which he chooses to tell it which is, overall, successful.
Review of Jour de Fête
