IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Pierre Étaix is probably the greatest movie comedian of which you’ve never heard; or if you have heard of him, it is doubtful that you’ve seen any of his work.  Étaix was a French clown, cartoonist, and cabaret performer who was highly influenced by the slapstick comedians of the silent era, most notably Buster Keaton.  Leaving the stage to try his hand at film-making, he wrote, starred in, and directed some of the smartest and funniest comedies of the 1960s.  However, his film career was cut short after his scathing, satiric documentary, Land of Milk and Honey (Pays de cocagne, 1971), was poorly received.  French audiences took the film as a personal insult, and the comedian was unable to find funding for future films.  Worse yet, due to legal issues, his wonderful body of work was unavailable for public view for decades.  A whole generation of movie lovers grew up unaware that they had missed out on Étaix’s hilarious output.  Happily, the 2013 release of a Blu-ray box set from the Criterion Collection, collecting all of Etaix’s films from 1961 to 1971, has once again made the comedian’s legacy available to the general public.

While Étaix dabbled a bit in film in the Fifties, working as a gag man and assistant director on Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle (1958), his primary venue had always been the stage.  However, over the years, he had developed a number of gags that were too small in size to play to the back rows of a live audience, so the motion picture screen seemed like the best way to present them.  Consequently, in 1961, he co-wrote and co-directed an 11-minute short subject entitled Rupture.  Apart from the opening scenes in which Étaix dodges cars and pedestrians to hurry home to read his mail, the film is basically a silent, one-man show.  Inside his apartment, he anxiously opens a letter from his sweetheart, only to find she has broken up with him (conveyed wordlessly when Étaix pulls a copy of his photograph from the envelope that has been ripped in two).  The remainder of the film is an increasingly frustrating attempt by Étaix to write and seal a nasty letter in response, while all manner of inanimate objects (pen nibs, an ink bottle, stamps, etc.) refuse to work as intended.  The premise is simple, but there is nothing simple about the expert execution of the ingenious gags.

Pierre Étaix’s comedies are most often compared to those of Jacques Tati, which is understandable.  Not only did Étaix work briefly with the elder comic; Tati was also the only French film comedian of the period to gain a fan base amongst critics and audiences outside of France.  Still, I don’t think it is an apt comparison.  While Étaix’s comedies are every bit as distinguished as Tati’s, I consider Pierre Étaix’s films to be much funnier and better constructed than those of Jacques Tati.  I find that even Tati’s best work (Playtime, 1967) is terribly uneven.

If I had to describe the comedy of Pierre Étaix to someone unfamiliar with his work, I’d ask them to imagine the result if Buster Keaton and Ernie Kovacs had a lovechild while vacationing in Paris.  Up until Étaix’s last narrative feature (Le grand amour, 1969), the comedian primarily focused on silent, visual comedy and slapstick, and his expertly engineered gags are most like those of Buster Keaton.  Étaix also was similar to Buster in size, physicality, and appearance.  However, Étaix’s use of music and outrageously exaggerated sound effects reminds me of the television work of the comedic genius of the airwaves, Ernie Kovacs.  Étaix also shared a dark sense of humor with Ernie, and the final visual gag in Rupture is sublimely Kovacsian.

One can find other influences in Étaix’s work.  The theme of loneliness that runs through most of his films is a bit Chaplinesque, but it also seems to draw from the Italian Neorealists.  And the editing techniques he employs occasionally draw from the French New Wave.  At the same time, Étaix’s comedies are incredibly original and completely his own.  Most importantly, they are extremely funny.  Rather than read about them, I’d suggest picking up Criterion’s box set and savoring Pierre Étaix’s superb films for yourself.  

France/B&W-11m./Dir: Jean-Claude Carrière & Pierre Étaix/Wr: Pierre Étaix & Jean-Claude Carrière/Cast: Pierre Étaix, Anne-Marie Royer, Anny Nelsen

For Fans of: If you love the silent comedy of Buster Keaton or the weirdness of Ernie Kovacs, you’ll probably also love the work of Pierre Étaix.  Even if you aren’t a fan of foreign films, don’t worry.  Étaix’s comedy requires no translation.

Video: As previously mentioned, The Criterion Collection released Rupture as part of the Pierre Etaix Blu-ray Collector's Set.  I had no prior knowledge of Pierre Étaix’s work before purchasing the set, but it has become my single favorite Criterion release.  The picture and sound quality of the movies are excellent, despite unnecessary warnings that some of the original film elements were in less than mint condition.  Like most Criterion releases, this director-approved special edition contains several special features including:

• New digital masters of the 2010 restorations of Rupture, Happy Anniversary, The Suitor, Yoyo, As Long as You’ve Got Your Health, Feeling Good, Le grand amour, and Land of Milk and Honey with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-ray edition
• New video introductions to the films by director Pierre Etaix
• Pierre Etaix, un destin animé (2011), a portrait of the life and work of the director by his wife, Odile Etaix
• New English subtitle translations
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic David Cairns

Streaming: Many of Pierre Étaix’s movies often stream on Filmstruck’s Criterion channel.  For now, Rupture can also be viewed in its entirety on Vimeo.  I have embedded the video above this review.  Normally, I would recommend purchasing the Blu-ray to watch the film in the best possible quality, but I think that once you see Étaix in action, you’ll want to run out and purchase the set to see the rest of his films.  So what are you waiting for?  Watch the film already.

More to Explore: Of course, I would suggest following up Rupture with the rest of the titles in the Criterion Pierre Etaix Blu-ray Collector's Set. Then, if you haven’t seen Buster Keaton’s brilliant silent shorts or if you missed Ernie Kovacs’ groundbreaking televion work, I’d suggest you seek out Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection 1917-1923 (5 Discs) [Blu-ray] and The Ernie Kovacs Collection, Vol. 1 (DVD).

Trivia: In 1961, Rupture won two awards at West German film festivals, but that was merely a warm up.  Étaix‘s second film, Happy Anniversary (1962) won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject.

For more info: Unfortunately, due to the unavailability of his films for so long, there are no books available in English on the life and work of Pierre Étaix.  Hopefully, that will change now that his work is reaching a new audience.