Cours du soir (1967)
Directed by Nicolas Ribowski

Film Review

Jacques Tati was busy working on what many consider to be his greatest film - Playtime (1967) - when he permitted tyro film director Nicolas Ribowski to direct this amusing short in which the comedic genius offers some rare insights into his unique craft.  Cours du Soir came towards the end of Tati's screen career, just before his wild excesses on Playtime brought about his financial ruin and pretty well drained his creative urge.  As ever, Tati is instantly engaging and effortlessly funny as he attempts to coach a class of wannabe thespians in the mystic art of comedy.  It is a short film that is both informative and entertaining, although perhaps not classic Tati.  After this promising debut Ribowski helmed one notable full-length film for the cinema, Une affaire d'hommes (1981), but devoted most of his career to television, working on such popular series as Navarro and Maître Da Costa.  In 2000, he directed a fairly respectable TV adaptation of Marcel Pagnol's La Trilogie marseillaise.

Film Synopsis

France's nearest thing to Charlie Chaplin, Jacques Tati takes a break from his usual acting and directing duties to give a class of aspiring young actors some valuable lessons on how to master the comedic art. According to Tati - and who would dare to contradict him? - comedy is not merely a craft, it is an art form, one that is crucially formed by one's close observation of the world.  Our illustrious master of the genre proves the truth of this by making astute references to horse jockeys and tennis players, whose peculiar activities are a mine of information for the developing artiste.

Tati then goes on to assert that tripping up a flight of stairs is no trivial exercise - it is something that requires considerable skill and practice, as is the equally challinging task of appearing to walk straight into a column.  There is even an art to extracting laughs from something as mundane as smoking a cigarette.  Tati's thesis is that there is nothing casual or accidental to being a funny man.  It is a skill that you acquire only through incredibly hard work and considerable practice over many years.  Comedy isn't about getting facile laughs by just doing silling things.  It is about looking at the world and showing others just how absurd, unpredictable and cruel it really is.