24 April 2007

The cinema of Jacques Tati and particularly his screen alter-ego Monsieur Hulot, may not work for everyone – a once close of mine used to go into a groaning fit every time Tati's name was mentioned – but his status as a comedy giant is well established and has resulted in several films that have attracted the label of classic. In Tati's 1971 Trafic, the bumbling Monsieur Hulot, outfitted as always with tan raincoat, beaten brown hat, and umbrella, takes to Paris's highways and byways. For this, his final outing, Hulot is employed as an auto company's director of design, and accompanies his new vehicle (a camper tricked out in all sorts of absurd gadgetry) to an auto show in Amsterdam. Naturally, the road is paved with modern-age mishaps. This late-career delight is a masterful demonstration of the Tati's expert timing and command of visual gags, and a bemused last look at technology run amok.

Trafic has been announced for a July 2008 DVD release from Criterion as a Special Edition Double-Disc set with the following features:

• New, restored high-definition 1.33:1 digital transfer but Dolby digital mono 1.0 sound;
• In the Footsteps of Monsieur Hulot (1969), a two-hour documentary tracing the evolution of Jacques Tati's beloved alter ego;
• Interview from 1971 with the cast of Trafic, from the French television program Le journal de cinéma;
• "The Comedy of Jacques Tati," a 1973 episode from the French television program Morceaux de bravoure;
• Theatrical trailer;
• New and improved English subtitle translation;
• A new essay by film critic Jonathan Romney.

Trafic will be released on US DVD in July 2008 (exact date to be confirmed) at the SRP of $39.95.