You Should Know These People_Jacques Tati
The first in a series of creative people who have inspired me, who I believe will inspire you.
Can funny be designed?
Chaplin films? Maybe. Peter Sellers movies? Sure. Shows like The Office? Curb Your Enthusiasm, even Saturday Night Live? On occasion. And what about advertising? What about the reality of verticals, 6 second ads, social posts.
Has there ever been a time in which visual comedy was so desperately needed.
Alors…
Let me introduce you to one of the true masters of visual storytelling, Jacques Tati.
Picture this: A tall, pipe-smoking gentleman meticulously arranging every detail of a scene – not just for laughs, but to show us how hilariously absurd modern life can be.
That's Jacques Tati to a T.
Jacques Tati was a French fimmaker and actor who was quite active between 1949 and 1974. He made six films beginning with "Jour de fête" and ending with "Parade," with his most critically acclaimed work coming in the 1950s and 1960s with "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" (1953), "Mon Oncle" (1958), and "PlayTime" (1967).
Tati's humor wasn't about punchlines or witty dialogue. Instead, he created intricate visual symphonies of everyday life gone wonderfully wrong.
In his masterpiece "Playtime," he built an entire modernist city set just to poke fun at how architecture and design can make us all look like confused ducks waddling through a world of glass and steel.
What made Tati special was his eye for design decades before "design thinking" became a thing. Every frame in his films is a master class in composition.
Take "Mon Oncle" – the contrast between old Paris's charming chaos and the sterile modern house with its absurdly complicated gadgets isn't just funny, it's beautifully crafted commentary on progress versus humanity.
His storytelling? Pure visual poetry. Tati could tell you more about a character through how they walked across a room than most directors can with pages of dialogue. He understood that human behavior – our quirks, our habits, our silent struggles with automatic doors – tells the real story.
Tati showed us how to communicate volumes without saying a word. His films remind us that great content isn't about talking the loudest – it's about observing keenly and presenting ideas in ways that make people both think and smile.
For today's creatives and creators, Tati's work is a masterclass in the power of visual storytelling and the art of showing rather than telling.
Want to stand out from the digital merde? Study how Tati turned everyday moments into unforgettable scenes.
See more Tati here.
And get to know him.
Images: Various Jacques Tati films.
Tati is an all time favorite.
No one like him. Playtime = Perfect. An all show-not tell masterpiece that only grows more relevant. Tati's satire brilliantly predicts our lives, from the tourism posters showing identical buildings across different countries (foreshadowing cultural and trend homogenization) to the we-are-all-voyeurs apartment scene that mirrors today's social media culture, where we're all watching each other through digital windows. And, all so tastefully done. What would I give for a night of partying at The Royal Garden, a scene that always makes me think of Blake Edward's iconic The Party (1968), some of the best Peter Sellers there will ever be. Gracias Rob!