I had the opportunity to se the color version of this film for the first time. There is nothing in resent film history, that give me as much, as "Jour de fete". It's not simply a comedy from one of the genius in the film history - but much more. Today the prints condition is quite poor with vanishing colors of life and people in a small French village. Some directors need three hours of murders and death to make a similar kaleidoscope of life, but Tati manages in a very short time to paint a rich background for many individuals desires and dreams.

Tati shot this film in Thomson Color, and it was due to be the first color film in France. Because the process was experimental Tati made the shooting with two cameras, in the other he loaded a B&W safety copy. At the time they couldn't process the color material, 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.

1) Future Film - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• 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)

DVD Release Date:
Keep Case

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: Criterion's Complete Jacques Tati Blu-ray Collection is compared/reviewed HERE!

***

Addition: The 2004 BFI edition of Jour de fete has recently been rereleased as part of their Jacques Tati Collection along with Jour de fête / Les Vacances de M. Hulot / Mon Oncle / Playtime and Parade. The only changes that the BFI made with this version is the keep case has been turned into a slim case and the individual booklets have been collected into one and some new artwork added to it. The image is pretty much the same as the color Future Films release (the black and white version is not included here), but there is an occasional black line on the far left of the screen that can be seen in a few of the captures. Although the audio here is Dolby Digital 1.0, rather than the 2.0 found in the Future Films release, I doubt that the former sounds significantly better as the audio here is typically quite good. For those looking for English subtitles, you won't find them on this Finish release, but they are the only subs to be found in the BFI edition. The real difference between the two releases comes in terms of the extras. While we get three Tati shorts from the Future release, the BFI has trailers for Tati's next three films and a typically invaluable booklet. Ultimately, I doubt that you could go wrong with purchasing either set. I suppose that the choice ultimately will come down to whether you need the English subs on the BFI release, the sum total of extras on both sets (mighty impressive for both, I might add!), what you'd prefer for your fifth film (the BFI has Parade, while the Future Films release has Trafic). Definitely recommended.

ON THE FUTURE FILM DVDs:

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 Tati's 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!

 Per-Olof Strandberg

1) Future Film - Region 2 - PAL - TOP