

28 minutes to understand why the greatest mime in cinema history worshipped clowns.
In this 2013 visual essay, Jacques Tati scholar Stéphane Goudet discusses how the filmmaker’s appreciation for the circus, clowns, and mime humor is reflected in PARADE, and analyzes the film’s various comedic acts.
Direction
Goudet's love letter disguised as film studies.
Editing
Archival footage woven with genuine reverence.
Director
Stéphane Goudet
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tati filmed PARADE in Sweden because French financiers considered the circus dead.
Goudet's analysis suggests Tati saw himself as both ringmaster and clown—forever outside looking in.