Jacques Tati

Of Russian, French, and Dutch descent, Tati worked as a professional rugby player and music-hall mime before directing cinema. His 1949 debut Jour de fête, starring himself as the clumsy village postman François, won international acclaim for its charming visual pacing.

In 1953, he introduced Monsieur Hulot in Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, satirizing the regimented absurdity of seaside vacationing. In Mon Oncle (1958) and his colossal 70mm masterpiece Playtime (1967, featuring a giant built city 'Tativille'), he deployed sound effects and brilliant visual choreography to satirize dehumanizing modernist consumer architecture.