, one of Jacques Tati’s classic films, has been restored in a spectacular way and has now been released in a colour version, as once intended but never realised. During the shooting in 1947 Tati shot two versions at once: one using the obscure Thomson colour process and one in black & white just to be sure. This was very sensible, because it turned out to be impossible to make an acceptable print using Thomson’s archaic optical approach (his invention dated from 1907). Tati had chosen the uncommon process because he didn’t feel like helping the Americans to conquer the French market with their Technicolor. The material shot was kept by Tati, and after his death by his daughter Sophie Tatischeff. For her work, Tatischeff consulted François Ede, a specialist in the field of unusual film techniques and cameraman for Raúl Ruiz. Ede discovered after much experimentation the secret of the strange Thomson technique after which reconstruction of the dreamed of colour version was possible by Sophie Tatischeff ! who also worked with him on his later films. The reconstruction was based on the original version and on the recut version by Tati himself (especially for the sound) in 1964. This latter version includes the famous colour additions to the black & white, such as the blue and red of the French flag and the postman’s red rear light. The centenary of film made it possible to find financial backing for this expensive undertaking.
