Rating:
by Derek Smith 5/8/07

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Let me just get this out of the way – Parade is one of the strangest, most joyous films I’ve ever seen, yet the exact reasons behind its utter charm are still a mystery to me. I first saw it on video a few years back and while I found much to respect and enjoy about all of the film’s various performers, I felt like I was missing something. After seeing it in the theater with a responsive audience, I am a bit more certain of where its charms lie. First, let me explain what it’s all about. Tati gathered a couple dozen performers from a variety of backgrounds (musicians, acrobats, jugglers, dancers, etc.) and for a live performance with an audience. It sounds simple enough except he includes the audience in the performance by having them stage events, reactions and even personal mini-narratives which play out through the course of the film and he captures everything with both visible and hidden cameras.

Effectively shattering the line between performer and audience, on-stage and off-stage, live performance and rehearsed fiction, Tati’s generosity as both filmmaker and performer has here reached its peak. It is a veritable celebration of everything the man loves; an expression of his passion for entertaining and finding the beauty and comic possibilities that exist within all of us. While the performances themselves are for the most part remarkable, it is through the constant undercutting of expectations that Tati creates something remarkably unique. Musicians leave the band mid-song to perform acrobatic feats and audience members stand up mid-trick and attempt to outdo the on-stage talent. It’s literally a free-for-all for everyone involved and while there’s certainly an element of staged spontaneity, the moments ring true by making the audience, and in turn the viewer, feel like a part of Tati & Company’s performance.

By also capturing backstage interactions and tenderly intimate and comical moments in the audience, one gets the feeling that Tati doesn’t see the stage as a boundary, but something that extends as far as a performer/filmmaker wants it to. What many see as an impassable paradox, he sees as unnecessary barriers. At one point in the show, he trots around the ring enacting the part of the both the horse and the rider. While this is a simple act to perform, it actually works as the perfect metaphor for what he achieves in Parade. The talented performers are not given preferential treatment as even the most untalented of audience members are given their moment to shine. One of the most amusing moments comes from an overweight middle-aged man escaping the grip of his wife to get his chance to ride the donkey on-stage. It’s clear that this moment is planned, yet when the man returns to his seat only to fall on his ass, the audience erupts in genuine laughter. Even what is staged, perhaps even rehearsed, contains elements of truth and genuine emotion. Just like the film’s other dualities, the staged and spontaneous are not mutually exclusive. In other words, as Tati himself demonstrates, the rider and the horse can be one and the same.

When the films winds down to a close, the two young children shown intermittently throughout the film make their way on-stage. The audience and performers have exited, yet the children move innocently from prop to prop, finding amusement with each one, unconcerned with the fact that they aren’t performing for anyone in particular. The innocence and purity behind their curiosity is quite moving and mirrors Tati’s own view of performance and the simple joys of approaching the world with openness of a child. As Tati grew more and more cynical with each of the Hulot films, it is wonderful to see him end his career with a film that embraces all that is good within the human spirit, while also displaying his vast array of talents as both performer and filmmaker.