There's something uniquely ungainly about the way Tati moves his body that's paradoxically balletic. And somehow, even the pathetic bell on his bike is funny in an indefinable way.
Tati himself sought shelter in this very commune during WWII, a fact that speaks to his interests in having his films, even at their most playful, consistently overlap with harsh, existing realities. There are no politicians or military forces in Jour de Fête, but the creeping grasp of a post-Fordist work force invades the commune via a film: a propagandistic piece of American, economic valorization, which convinces François of his allegiances
Jour de Fête tells the story of an inept and easily-distracted French mailman who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to his small community. Influenced by too much wine and a newsreel account of rapid transportation methods used by the United States postal system, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed the delivery of mail while aboard his bicycle.