Yoyo

Is this a slow film? It takes it time, sure, and it should. I never wished it moved more quickly. Humor served so deliciously can take its time. There is biting satire, moments of brilliant, visual cleverness, smart homages to Chaplin, Keaton, Fellini and others-in a non-stop progression of sketches that are never merely silly. Young YoYo's playful delight in his exploration of a mansion is the spell that establishes the story's magic. And the boy clown, in his clown shoes, white gloves, whiteface, painted tear drops, red clown nose and turned down hat is not in costume, but wearing his natural street clothes-reveals the loving, longing heart of this endearing, classic French meal that like a Michelin 3-star dining experience, is enjoyed at a pace that you might savor all the textures, flavors as well as the presentation.

squeaky shoes, drawers, carts, etc. much like "The Artist" minimal dialog

Pierre Étaix co-directed one of Jacques Tati's great hits, "Mon Oncle" and I noticed that many folks think his style is very close to Tati's--which it is. However, and this is very important, if you don't like Tati's film, you'll probably not be particularly fond of "Yoyo". The film looks a bit like the recent film "The Artist" combined with Tati as well as Chaplin. Many love this, it's true. I didn't. I just felt that the pacing was extremely slow and the film lacked energy and fun.

The film begins with a bored, rich guy (Pierre Étaix) in a huge house. He seems to have no interest in anything and eventually you learn it's because he's lost his love--a woman who ran off to be in the circus. This portion of the film is very much like a silent film--with very little dialog and VERY over-exaggerated sound effects. I thought it rather annoying when you hear almost explosively loud squeaking shoes and sliding drawers. It was supposed to be funny...it wasn't.

When the stock market crashes in 1929, the bored rich guy sells off the contents of his house and goes in search of this lady love. They meet and tour the country entertaining--along with her son (the rich guy now realizes he has a kid), Yoyo. Yoyo is a small and very talented clown and when he grows, he is ALSO played by Étaix. He moves back into the empty mansion and restores it to its old glory--but eventually it turns out he's pretty bored and the home is emotionally empty.

If you like mimes and Jacques Tati, then by all means watch this film. Otherwise, for me, it just wasn't particularly interesting. While it had some very nice sight gags, I just didn't care one bit about the characters--a serious flaw.

A strange little movie, of very few words, by Pierre Étaix. Ostensibly the story of a billionaire playboy discovering he has sired a son with a circus performer, it can be seen mostly as a kind of 1960s tribute to the silent age: packed to the brim with sight gags, it is seldom laugh-out-loud funny, but continually inventive, charming and gorgeous to look at.

If you are a fan of either the films of Jacques Tati or 'The Artist' (2011), with perhaps a touch of Wes Anderson, this feels cut from a similar cloth and may well appeal.

Utterly charming homage to silent movies, with little dialogue but lots of sight gags, and an energy reminiscent of the era. Its playful story begins in the chateau of a wealthy man in the 1920's, and as it shifts focus to the man's son and marches through to the 1960's, it lampoons the rich, finds humor in the Depression and war years, and pokes fun at modernization. There are themes of wealth not buying happiness, how fickle fate can change one's fortunes in an instant, and how life can recur in some ways from generation to generation, this last point emphasized by Pierre Étaix playing both father and son. It's very light in tone, but there is a tinge of melancholy despite all its humor. I loved the little tributes to Fellini, Chaplin, Keaton, and Groucho Marx, and the cinematography was beautiful too. It was probably strongest at the beginning and it felt a little slow in places, but it kept me smiling throughout.

I remember in 1965 seeing a clip of this movie on TV the week it came out. It featured a rich woman being driven slowly round the square by her chauffeur and 'walking' her dog by sitting in the back of the limousine with her dog on a lead to the pavement. That quirky and humorous image stuck in my impressionable young head and I promised myself I would go and see it when it came to the local cinema. Needless to say, it never did and it has never been on TV or DVD that I'm aware of.

I'm still waiting...

This is so often the case in the UK. I am a huge fan of Japanese cinema but most of the movies reviewed highly on sites like Midnight Eye never get over here. Are subtitles so unbearable to UK moviegoers? We lap up some of the tripe from Hollywood but anything where English is not the main language really struggles. One thing is for sure, most of the challenging and original stuff is not coming from Los Angeles.