Jour de Fete

Paper lanterns swing solemnly in the summer wind. A tractor chugs through the idyllic countryside, its trailer loaded with beautiful wooden carousel horses. As it drives past a paddock, the real horses snort and retreat: they don't have a job for the next few days. The annual village festival is coming up, and tranquil Folainville is in a state of emergency. The garden furniture on the village square has been freshly painted, the mayor is giddy, the landlady has had a haute couture dress tailored from Paris, the barber's shop is bustling - and not even letter carrier François (Jacques Tati) can follow his usual leisurely routine, even though he demonstrates his great logistical talent by setting up the flagpole in the middle of the square.

Then a documentary about the modern postal system in the USA is shown in the traveling cinema that has been brought in especially for the occasion - and brings François into an existential crisis. In the land of unlimited opportunity, mail is not delivered by bicycle, but by helicopter, and every day not perhaps a hundred letters are delivered, but hundreds of thousands! François decides to do the same as the Americans and completely reorganizes his work routine. Instead of tranquility and personal contact, he now wants to focus exclusively on speed and efficiency - but his "Mode Américaine" leads not only to astonishing results, but also to dramatic consequences.