Jacques Tati does not smoke any longer
Look at that photo. Something is wrong. Yes, it is our beloved Jacques Tati on his Solex, as we remember him as M. Hulot. But he has something strange in his mouth. Not the usual pipe but one of those plastic windmills that are meant for kids to play with. Tati gone ecological after his death? Why?
Well, here we go again: No Smoking. In this case the French company Métrobus that takes care of the public advertisements on busses and trains, has decided that Tati with a pipe is publicity for smoking. So what to do for the organisers of the Tati exhibition (at la Cinématheque Francaise until August 2) as all posters were already printed. They did what you see, added a windmill, which of course is a fine move that will make many more interested in… pipe-smoking, no, Tati, yes.
”le monde” is where I read about this yesterday, and French reading site visitors can read (links below) how this absurdity has provoked a lot of humour, and anger. ”It is a crime against the spirit of Tati, who always had this pipe as part of his character … and could you imagine Humphrey Bogart without a cigarette in mouth or Georges Simenon without pipe?”
http://passouline.blog.lemonde.fr/2009/04/13/tati-nom-dune-pipe/
