The reason people "almost don't catch" gags in Tati's films is because Tati insisted on staging everything in long shots, which often buries the gags in visually bustling or highly production-designed frames, and denies the closeup reactions to embellish the gags. This, to me, makes his comedy a bit cold and aloof. Tati aficionados who maintain that viewers have to work harder to appreciate Tati's gags because they've been jaded by the styles of comedy that have followed in his wake (in which performers often expanded upon his gags) are too willing to overlook the fact that Tati's bag of tricks was rather limited, even obvious, despite his keen eye for visuals and cutting. Once other European comedians started absorbing/stealing/riffing on his style, and intercutting the long shots with medium shots and especially close-ups (to humanize their often similar characters, a la Python and even crass clowns like Benny Hill), THAT's when Tati's style really found a wide audience, but by then Tati himself had shot his financial wad on PLAY TIME and only had the so-so TRAFIC left in him before calling it a day.
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