Yoyo - Der Lebensweg eines Zirkusclowns

Utterly charming homage to silent movies, with little dialogue but lots of sight gags, and an energy reminiscent of the era. Its playful story begins in the chateau of a wealthy man in the 1920's, and as it shifts focus to the man's son and marches through to the 1960's, it lampoons the rich, finds humor in the Depression and war years, and pokes fun at modernization. There are themes of wealth not buying happiness, how fickle fate can change one's fortunes in an instant, and how life can recur in some ways from generation to generation, this last point emphasized by Pierre Étaix playing both father and son. It's very light in tone, but there is a tinge of melancholy despite all its humor. I loved the little tributes to Fellini, Chaplin, Keaton, and Groucho Marx, and the cinematography was beautiful too. It was probably strongest at the beginning and it felt a little slow in places, but it kept me smiling throughout.

Growing up in France, I always heard of Jacques Tati and Pierre Etaix in the same breath: critical successes, commercial failures. This is the first time I am actually seeing an Etaix movie (via the Criterion's DVD). and I see the charm, but I also see the limitations of Etaix's art, unfortunately. While Jacques Tati's "Playtime" is a timeless masterpiece ( I have seen Playtime 3 or 4 times now, big screen or small screen, and I never get tired of it) Pierre Etaix' s "Yoyo" has its charming moments and delightful camera angles, but in the end, it comes out as a collection of gags (some enchanting, some dated) with no coherence behind them. No developed storyline. "Yoyo" starts in a virtuoso way (fabulous fake silent movie!), but peters out quickly script wise, and by the end, elicits only a "meh?". I stopped watching the second movie ("As long as you got your health") after 2 "sketches": no plot, bad timing, irritating musical choices. I am so very sorry, Mr Etaix.

I'm 47. It's genius. I have no other words, to say them would be a disservice.

OK my review didn't pass the quantity test: I have to write more lines otherwise I can't submit this.

Tarkovsky's "Ivan's Childhood" has burnt indelible images into my mind, so did this film.

This film also bought me joy. It's very beautiful, very very funny and at times very sad.

It's highly stylised throughout, each period of the story is depicted through the cinema conventions of that period (somewhat). The stylisation continues through highly over-exaggerated but incredibly musical sound design and almost no dialogue.

The cinematography is stunning, the direction and editing are stunning, the performances are excellent throughout.

I may be alone in thinking that this is one of the greatest films but please make your own judgement, I'm happy.

While Tati seemed to love performers this film abuses them, its seriously unfunny. The actors are fine but they are treated shoddily. The film maker seems to want to denigrate live performers. It's inventiveness is not enough salvage it's integrity.. Check out any Tati movie and compare the framing the narrative and the characterization to appreciate how trite this film is by comparison. Oddly it was made AFTER Tati's heyday. One would hope something had been learned. French satire by its very nature is somewhat lame, but this is embarrassing. It's as though Germany had won in 1871 and infected European story telling.

Is this a slow film? It takes it time, sure, and it should. I never wished it moved more quickly. Humor served so deliciously can take its time. There is biting satire, moments of brilliant, visual cleverness, smart homages to Chaplin, Keaton, Fellini and others-in a non-stop progression of sketches that are never merely silly. Young YoYo's playful delight in his exploration of a mansion is the spell that establishes the story's magic. And the boy clown, in his clown shoes, white gloves, whiteface, painted tear drops, red clown nose and turned down hat is not in costume, but wearing his natural street clothes-reveals the loving, longing heart of this endearing, classic French meal that like a Michelin 3-star dining experience, is enjoyed at a pace that you might savor all the textures, flavors as well as the presentation.