Cours du soir

Jacques Tati, wearing his familiar slouch hat, macintosh and smoking his pipe, goes into a large, modern building and addresses a group of eager men on the techniques of humorous observation.

They don't get it, of course, because that's the message Tati sent in his celebrated films: that people are obsessed with how to do things and the trappings of success, whether it be a vacation at a well-regarded hotel at a fashionable resort, or a giant metal fish fountain in a tiny garden; not for M. Hulot, who goes about his pursuits in a way that interests him.

And so while his students watch Tati do quick impressions of various sorts of tennis players, they fail in the practical aspects of his study. They fail to bump into walls convincingly, then argue among themselves about that failure.

I don't know why this film is so underrated. For me, this film is special. This is not an ordinary one, even inside of the amazing world of Tati's films (there is no such a thing as an "ordinary film" when talking about Tati). If you take it seriously, not as a simple piece of comedy sketches, this is a short about Tati's obsession: observation. As a matter of fact, in this short, Tati's character makes his point about it: "this is a class about observation".Observation of details as in his whole work, is the clue to understand the film or, at least, make it enjoyable.

Despite the fact of not being directed by Jacques Tati, this is also a film about Tati's peculiar style, especially if we think about the black and white scene that reminds us of his first works: "School of Postmen" and "Jour de fête". The whole short is like the beginning of "School for postmen", when a postman is leading others in their training of mail delivering, but this time with a special and simple "reflection" (one might say): all those things that make Tati's films charming and funny are based on that little thing called observation.

I have never understood the work of Jacques Tati. His Mr. Hulot character was beloved and he made several successful films. However, I've seen several of the films and have never found his pantomiming entertaining. Now this is NOT because I hate pantomime (I love Mr. Bean) nor is it because I hate French films (they are among my very favorites)...I just don't think Hulot is funny at all. Well, I decided to try once again...and found "Evening Classes" about as funny as staring at a bowl of snot for 30 minutes.

Tati plays the Hulot character but talks quite a bit, unlike what I've seen in his other films. He's teaching an acting class and teaches such things as how to play tennis, ride a horse and trip on stairs...none of which, NONE, made me laugh or even smile. It was dry as dust and proof that Hulot-lovers will watch ANYTHING in which the character appears.

If you like Jacques Tati then see this but it´s nothing of his better works.I saw this on the Criterion Collection DVD Playtime.It includes some funny things, but the horse riding bit is not good.Still Tati has some good moments.So if you are a fan of Tati I recommend you to take a look at it. It´s hard to rate short films but if I must I would give this a 3+ out of 5.

Cours du soir is a sometimes funny Tati short, but it's own format harms it quite a bit. The film is of Tati teaching a night class how to mime as he does. It's not too funny watching Tati mime in front of a class. The tennis and horse riding bits are sort of lame. The postmen skit was done much better in the earlier short School for Postmen. The only really good thing in the film is his fisherman sketch. Otherwise, it's not too great. Nice to watch if you are a Tati fan. 6/10.