For the first time I (Gunnar) get a chance to watch the films made by Pierre Etaix.Pierre Etaix is a clown, comedian, drawer, magician/prestidigitator, billboard- maker and director, born in 1928 in Roanne, in the Loire Department in France.
Unfortunately I don't think his is so well known among the ordinary cinema goers and this is a pitty because he is a truely original film maker and on the same time influenced by Jacques Tati whom he met for the first time in 1954.
At that time he worked as a drawer and 'gagsman' for Tati but became assistant director when Tati shot his film 'Mon Oncle' in 1958.
Read more under the link to his name or this link: Les films d'etaix (in French).
The only thing I want to add is that these films are extremely funny and intelligently construed and even though the corner stone of his film making is the slap-stick, it's realized with talent and refinement.
One can, without exaggeration, equal him with film makers like Tati, Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Linder and Laurel & Hardy.
I warmly advise you to discover the newly restored works by Etaix, earlier not available because of copyright problems and due to the fact that the films were in a poor state.
Aurore and I have bought a box with five feature films, three shorts, an interview made this year, a book (112 pages) and more.
Next year he will probably visit La Châtre and if so we will hopefully be there.
On Thursday evening we started with these two films:
Heureux Anniversaire:
Le Soupirant:
(Picture of DVD box with films by Etaix taken from: http://www.barkalshop.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/cofret-yoyo.gif&w=286&h=290)
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