Monsieur Hulot's Holiday

To once again prove that some things are funny no matter what country you're from, we arrive at Mr. Hulot's Holiday. This French film from the 50s is rather hard to put into words as it doesn't really have a storyline, and scenes incorporating different elements of comedy are connected to each other, but each is quite short in length. The movie itself is about Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati), a bachelor who arrives at a beach hotel in his small but noisy car one day. The other residents of the hotel are immediately annoyed with his presence as he opens the front door during a huge breeze and causes things to go flying across the lobby. Throughout the rest of the film, he causes more disturbances (but doesn't mean to) and some girl who lives at a nearby boarding house wants to be with him. Since that is basically all there is to the plot, I will instead focus on some of the things I consider to be the film's funniest moments, such as when Hulot is trying to fix his car and causes it to bump another car in front of his. The second car starts rolling down a road near a chateau, and one of its spare tires (which has a horn attached) falls off the side. Every second or two, the tire rolls over and causes the horn to go off, which sounds remarkably like a duck. Some old man on the porch of the chateau gets his shotgun and tries to shoot at what he thinks is another thing to put on his mantle. Another hilarious bit has Hulot take a kayak out to the beach. At first it goes well, but as he begins using his oar, the boat suddenly cracks in the middle and both ends of it point straight up. What makes it so funny is how Hulot just seemingly disappears out of existence when the boat breaks. Filmed in a town called Saint Marc sur Mer in the french region of Bretagne, Tati wanted to make a movie in this place even before World War II essentially put french ambitions (no matter what they were) on hold for 4 long years. A metal statue dedicated to Hulot was later built to watch over the town. While this movie isn't particularly famous, it is most likely the thing that has brought the greatest amount of exposure to Saint Marc. If those living there are anything like Hulot, they must be fun. If you go into this movie expecting a story, you have to have the self control to get rid of this mindset before you even start watching, since there isn't one. I felt the part at the end with the fireworks was kind of irritating, but overall, this movie is ok because it's style is reminiscent of Buster Keaton, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and all the other icons of physical film comedy.

If you do not have the time or money to travel back to 1953 to spend a French holiday, you might as well just watch M. Hulot's Holiday. Honestly holidays are stressful and barely ever as good as you want them to be anyway, while this movie was much more than I expected it to be.

The humor in the film is warm, never condescending or patronizing to the characters. There is always the sense of fun. The movie really sells itself to me by not making Mr. Hulot a buffoon alone in the crowd. Circumstance and happening reveals everyone to be capable of situational humor, the accidents of the movie are shared with a laugh.

It is an observational movie, and the majority of the humor is not forced, neither upon us nor upon the movie itself. It merely shows how people can get involved in each others' lives, how funny the average day can be. It is like attending a family reunion, really. The camera does not stick itself to Mr. Hulot, but goes anywhere for a laugh. If a small boy is doing something funny, the camera will be there to capture it all, and then leave the boy. This would make another film feel large, but because there is no story to the film, because there is no main character to feel especially attached to, it always feels personal, it always feel like you are seeing something nobody else is.

Perhaps the best part is that the film sticks with you for days afterward, and soon Mr. Hulot's Holiday shows its real genius, as you start noticing similar things happening around you.

The picture deals with Mister Hulot going to a holiday resort where he accidentally originates destruction and disaster . The movie is plentiful of original sketches . From the beginning to the end the good humor and bland comedy are continued . The film blends tongue-in-cheek , irony , giggles , joy , jokes , social critical and is pretty bemusing and entertaining .

In spite of runtime is overlong , the run is two hours and some , isn't boring neither tiring but funny . The gentle humor developed in the film is clever and thoughtful and the comic numbers vary between slapstick and surrealist . The argument is plain and simple though is only set in a hotel and beach isn't dreary . Jacques Tati is extraordinary as Mister Hulot , character he'll repeat in a sequel : ¨My uncle¨ . Direction and interpretation by Jacques Tati is magnificent and excellent . Alain Romain's score ( habitual musician of Tati ) is agreeable and cheerful . The motion picture received awesome reviews and deserves the complete knowledge because there are amount chuckles and entertainment . The picture is nowadays considered a European cult film .

It's probably easy to see this as just a relatively late occurrence of classic slapstick. In fact, the slapstick dimension is quite masterful. But there's a lot more to this movie than the comedic value of seeing someone get kicked. Part of the charm comes from the structure of the movie. Instead of a linear narrative or a series of sketches, it's a multi-dimensional portrait of different aspects of human nature. The "point" of the movie, if there is one (there's more likely a large array of "points" in this apparently simple comedy), isn't put out ostentatiously throughout the film. For instance, if Tati intended to admonish people to have some fun in life, it's not by showing how Hulot's having fun but by showing the respect fun may have with some people. There's also the purely aesthetic pleasure derived from a well-crafted movie. This one's fluid enough that nothing appears superfluous, from sun rays passing between drapes to one of Hulot's "accidental" gestures. Of course, there's a nostalgic value in watching such a movie. Not for 1950s France but for another era, however long ago, when insouciance might have been acceptable.

It's not surprising that most folks either love the movie or hate it. In fact, few films are more unlike today's comedy style than this one. It's neither manic, nor in-your-face, nor aimed at the belly-laugh. Instead, it's leisurely paced, subtly structured, and aimed at the mild chuckle, while the closest the set-ups come to the scatological are boys ogling the lovely Martine. So, all in all, don't expect to see its like at the neighborhood Cineplex anytime soon.

Tati's unusual brand of humor comes from observing life's minutiae—simple things, such as swinging doors, balky cars, and exaggerated social graces. In short, he manages to remark on the unremarkable in an amusing way. Of course, this kind of ground-level humor is not everyone's cup of tea. For me, not all the set-ups work; at the same time, the humor tends to wear thin over the 90 minutes. Still, there's a subtle charm working its way through that's quite compelling and unlike anything else I've seen. Perhaps the reviewer who finds an underlying innocence puts his/her finger on the secret of the appeal. And when the camera lingers at the end on the now deserted beach, there's a sense of some kind of wistful loss. But I've never been able to figure out exactly of what.