With his exquisitely subtle wit, his relentless eye for contemporary absurdity and his distinctively modern visual language, Jacques Tati is doubtlessly one of the most original voices cinema has ever produced. Add to this the character of Monsieur Hulot, the modern everyman, forever amazed and never really involved, and you also get one of the most recognisable characters of the silver screen. Even fifty years after they were made, films like Playtime, Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot and especially the classic Mon Oncle, still sparkle with freshness and are always a delight to watch and watch again (in fact several had a major retrospective just recently across cities in the UK as part of the French Film Festival -- Joe). Just check out the classic kitchen scene from Mon Oncle.
Apparently, quite a few Belgian cartoonists and illustrators agree. From Friday, January 28th onwards, they take part in the exhibition Tati And Friends at the Brussels Seed Factory, whichs shows no less than one hundred original pieces of artwork featuring Tati’s likeness or inspired by his films or the character of Monsieur Hulot.
The roster includes cartoonists like François Avril, Reinhart Croon, Johan De Moor, Lode Devroe, José Parondo and Vincent Rif. Also on the list are illustrators and designers, such as Ever Meulen, Charles Dutertre, Nathalie Choux, Dion Boodts, Jean Julien, David Merveille and Jan Van der Veken. There’s even one of the original designs for the poster for Mon Oncle by Pierre Etaix.
(Mon Oncle poster by Pierre Etaix)
If you can’t make it to Brussels, you can still get a taste of the exibition thanks to the good people of The Seed Factory and Editions Du Rouergue, by downloading the PDF version of the colourful catalogue, which was masterfully edited by David Merveille, Johnny Bekaert and Michel Michiels. Only in order to be totally persuaded to buy a paper copy, of course. Seed Factory, avenue des volontaires 19, B-1160 Brussels (T : +32 2 743 47 20), all through the months of February and March. You can find more info here and also here, here and here.
(Jean Julien’s Tati artwork)
Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium and had his share of M. Hulot moments; you can read more of his comics musings on The Ephemerist blog
Thu, Jan 28, 2010
Comics and cartoons, Conventions and events, From our Continental Correspondent