A professional rugby player in his youth, Jacques Tati started his acting career as a mime in French music halls and, in the late 1930s, recorded some of his early supporting cameos on film. One of his short films, The School For Postmen (L'École Des Facteurs, 1947) was the basis for his first feature, Jour De Fête (1949).

There are several recurrent themes in Tati's comedic work, most notably in Mon Oncle (1958), Playtime (1967) and Traffic (Trafic, 1971): Tati lampoons Western society's obsession with material goods, particularly American-style consumerism; the pressure-cooker environment of modern society; the superficiality of relationships among France's various social classes; and the cold and often impractical nature of space-age technology and design.

The leading character in almost all of Tati's movies is the eccentric Monsieur Hulot: a goofy, well-meaning character who is a misfit in the modern world. With his trademark raincoat, umbrella and pipe, Hulot is among the most memorable comic characters in cinema.

Another Tati trademark was a unique sound design in most of his films: almost all dialogue (except for the most essential lines) is toned down to the background. However, sounds that are crucial to the gags are amplified.

Tati's last completed film, Parade (1974), produced for Swedish television, is more or less a filmed circus performance featuring Tati's mime acts and other performers. He was voted the 46th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly. With only 9 films to his credit, Tati has the shortest filmography of any director on the list.