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(aka "The Big Day" or "Holiday")
directed
by Jacques Tati
France 1949

and Tati released the B&W copy in 1949. However Tati was never really satisfied with the B&W version of the film. In 1964 he re-released a new version of it. He re-shot new material, with a painter coming to the village, and re-edited the film. Tati colored by hand himself many details in this version (flags etc), and it's the version most people have seen over the past. The new material was very skillfully edited, and it fit very well to the old material. When I say the new color version I can only say, that it is an entirely other movie! Many scenes are different, and the story with the painter no longer exists, and there are scenes in the color version that are missing from the B&W 1964 version.
Posters
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Theatrical Release: May 4th, 1949 - France
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Future Film (Finland) - Region 2 - PAL (Color) vs. Future Film (Finland) - Region 2 - PAL (black + white version)
Big thanks to Per-Olof Strandberg for all the screen captures!
(Future Films - color version - LEFT vs. Future Films black and white version - RIGHT)
| DVD Box Covers
(Boxset |
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| Distribution |
Future Film (Finland) Region 2 - PAL |
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| Runtime | 1:16:33 (including introduction to the color version 00:55) | 1:15:47 |
| Video |
1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio |
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| Audio |
French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) |
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| Subtitles | Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and none | |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Future Film (Finland) Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 DVD
Release Date: November, 2003 Chapters 16 |
Release Information: Studio: Future Film (Finland) Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 DVD Release Date: November, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 5 |
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Extras:
Jacques Tati short films:
Soigne Ton Gauche (1936)
(11:53)
L'Ecole des Facteurs (1947)
(14:25)
Cours du Soir (1967)
(26:30)
Jacques Tati biography (9
page in English)
Also available in a box set
including Playtime, Jour de Féte, Mon Oncle, Les Vacances de M.
Huolot and Trafic.
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| Comments: |
Picture:
I have no comparison
whatsoever for this film! It's the first time I saw it, and the only
material I have is this DVD. When Criterion comes with their print we
can look at this again.
But this Nordic print I
have looks fairly good. The image looks sharp. and similar to a
film-copy. I'm very satisfied with it! The colors! Yes, the colors
adhere to the following:
a) some material looks like taken from a color negative and have wonderful old colors, like the first color photographs taken. b) some material looks like they are taken from the B&W negative and are digitally colored (looks like some Turner colored classics, but with that difference, that this film is shot in color, and c) some sequences are left B&W (night shots etc). Overall I found the picture quality good!
The sequences in the
color version are not always the same than in the B&W edition.
Some scenes are angled differently, and some takes are not identical
to the B&W (peoples arms and gesture are not exactly the same).
The B&W edition in
this disc is unfortunately left in very bad condition, it looks like a
VHS cassette. When you understand that it's not the same movie, you
feel sorry for that they didn't also restore the 1964 version of the
film.
Sound:
I don't understand how
they manage to make new audio for this film. It sounds incredible
good. The sound is dynamic and the music score sounds as if it was
recorded yesterday. There is no noise, scratches or popping whatsoever
in the sound. Just fantastic! I wonder if there has been any new sound
tracks made for this edition.
The B&W is left un-restored
and sounds narrow and bad!
Extras:
This edition has the
same extras that the other nordic disc's. The short film L'ecole des
facteurs (1947) is in some way the first draft for this movie, but
otherwise I miss more information than the short introduction for the
color version. This is a very exciting pice of film history, a short
film and three versions, the last after Tatis death.
Overall:
We can start to count
the days for the Criterion disc to be released. I can promise, in my
case, that it will be one of the top three disc's for 2004. I'm
so happy to have this film. It didn't only get pleasure for 77
minutes, it will stay with me for the entire year, and probably also
the coming years!
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Recommended Reading in French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The Films in My Life |
French Cinema: A Student's Guide by Philip Powrie, Keith Reader |
Agnes Varda by Alison Smith | Godard on Godard : Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard | Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson |
Robert Bresson (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No.
2) by James Quandt |
The Art of Cinema by Jean Cocteau |
French New Wave
by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno |
French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present by Remi Fournier Lanzoni |
Truffaut: A Biography by Antoine do Baecque and Serge Toubiana |
Check out more in "The Library"
NOTE on DVD:
Until Sophie Tatischeff's and François Ede's color restoration of "Jour de fête", the film existed only in black and white.
A few details, such as banners and lanterns, were colored personally by Jacques Tati. This is the version in question.
Due to the poor availability of material, some defects do exits in this version, and we ask you to accept our apologies for such. In spite of that this version is part of the
long history of "Jour de fête".
DVD Menus
(Future
Films - color version - LEFT vs. Future Films black and white version - RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
(Future
Films - color version - TOP vs. Future Films black and white version - BOTTOM)
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(Future Films - color version - TOP vs. Future Films black and white version - BOTTOM)
NOTE: Some frames don't match, because there are different takes and different camera angles used!
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(Future Films - color version - TOP vs. Future Films black and white version - BOTTOM)
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(Future Films - color version - TOP vs. Future Films black and white version - BOTTOM)
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(Future Films - color version - TOP vs. Future Films black and white version - BOTTOM)
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(Future Films - color version - TOP vs. Future Films black and white version - BOTTOM)
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Missing in the black and white version
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"Color added by Tati" samples
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