Customer Reviews
Good debut by Tati - By: Andres C. Salama, 22 Aug 2008 
Tati's first feature film (he has made some shorts before) from 1949 is about an inept bicycle riding postman (Tati himself, of course) trying to adopt more efficient ways of delivering mailin a quaint French rural village, after watching a documentary of the American postal system. One must say first that the gags here are not as good or as funny asin Tati's later films (especially Mr. Hulot's Holiday & Mon Oncle). Still, this is worth seeing, especiallyin its color version (Tati was disappointed with its primitive color system, so he finally decided to release the film on black & white; the color version of the film was restored & released to the public many years later, after Tati's death). What is more striking of the movie when one sees it now is to look, evenin a color that leaves much to be desired, at a rural France that no longer exists.
Francois rides again - By: Mr. WA Bowman, 16 Aug 2008 
Jacques Tati shows that his is the master of the Chaplinesque genre with another highly skilled portrayal of a rural French postman when the travelling fair arrivesin the village. Human comedy at its best!
Thoroughly enjoyable, again & again. If you like it also see the "School for Postmen" on a collection of Tati shorts.
An unfortunate experience - By: , 01 Feb 2006 
Having seen a couple of Jacques Tati films as a child & been delighted, it was with eager anticipation that I put this DVD into the machine.
What a travesty! This is an early Tati extravaganza where he tips his hat to Chaplin, several decades too late, & displays little of the trademarks that make films like "Traffic" such a treat to watch. There is a delightful amount of period detail about rural French lifein the late 1940's & some little treats for the true Tati fan, but overall it's a disappointing film.
Far too much slapstick & not enough detailed observation of people.
Timeless, gentle and very funny - By: Ian Richardson, 20 Feb 2005 Tati's first feature has been overshadowed by the marvellous films that followed it, (particularly "M. Hulot's holiday") but this little masterpiece deserves to be seen. The pace is slow & the action mostly lugubrious but it is worth giving yourself time for the little details to work their magic. The droll story links a series of priceless set pieces that had me crying with laughter. How can a drunken postman making his way home on a bicycle be so funny? This is visual humour that is both refined & brilliantly funny & there is something wonderfully uplifting & humanein the tone of the film. As so often with Tati, the children seem much more socially adroit than the adults but all the characters are vivid & convincing. Tati beautifully captures a rural French postwar past that was fast disappearing even as he made the film. Hilarious, but much more than just funny.
One of his best... - By: Yovra, 14 Feb 2005 Compared to the brilliant Les Vacances de M. Hulot this film is somewhat uneven; the film occasionally slows down to almost a complete stop. The story is toldin a few lines: fuelled by a spectacular movie about mail-distributionin America he's seen on a travelling fair, the postman (Tati) decides to modernize his way of delivering his cards & letters.
The gags are classic slapstick (think Chaplin & Keaton). The colour-version only heightens the rural, easy-going atmosphere.
If you want to go on holiday to the French provence for just about 90 minutes; this is the way!
