Parade
By Kit Macdonald
A strange hybrid of film, television special and live performance, Parade is the surrealist great Jacques Tati's final feature, though he lived for nearly a decade after its 1974 release. It is a stripped-down celebration of performance itself, and is so by necessity – Tati had been sent into relative penury by the enormous financial burden of his 1967 classic Playtime. Its follow-up, Traffic (1971), was financed by Dutch investors, while Parade was produced for a Swedish television channel on a fraction of the budget of Playtime.
Parade largely takes place in a circus arena and unfolds as a variety show featuring clowns, jugglers, acrobats, musicians and mimes. Tati is Monsieur Loyal, a sort of compere for the parade of different acts. Playtime is undoubtedly the place to start for those new to Tati, but this minimalist curio is an essential piece of viewing for those wishing to gain a more complete knowledge of the work of one of cinema's true mavericks.