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M. Hulot's Holiday - Criterion Collection | Year: 1954 Classification: Foreign Film - French Directed: - Jacques Tati Actors/Actresses: - Jacques Tati - Nathalie Pascaud The Wonderful Mr. Hulot Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot has been compared to Mr. Bean and Charlie Chaplin and that's not a bad comparision. Tati has said that he patterned Mr. Hulot after Buster Keaton and that's closer, but he has put his own spin on the character Mr. Hulot. Mr. Hulot's Holiday is a good place to start admiring Jacques Tati's Mr. Hulot films but they are all great, all full of sight gags and observations on human nature. Mr. Hulot wanders and blunders through his holiday like a big kid observing, but not even trying to understand the odd behavior of the adults around him. The sight gags are fabulous, often leaving Mr. Hulot wondering how did this get from here to there or how did that happen. If you blink you will have to watch the film again to catch what you have missed. There is very little dialog - Jacques Tati was an aficinado of silent films - so if you do not like watching a subtitled film don't be put off. And don't be put off by the statement: "non-American" humor, this is funny stuff. Jacques Tati is one of the great comics. All the Mr. Holot films are equally brilliant; they will leave you smiling, laughing, and ocassionally - as when Mr. Hulot is trying to put out a fire in a shed full of fireworks - gasping for air. a nice French comedy This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film While not as funny as I expected, M. Hulot's Holiday, is one of the most popular French comedies of the 1950's. It is directed by and stars Jaques Tati. The original French title is "Le Vacances de M. Hulot" The film is part of a quadrilogy 3 of which have been put on DVD by the Criterion Collection (as of July 2004). The story follows Mr. Hulot, a very clumsy man who takes a vacation to an oceanfront hotel. While there he causes many different kinds of accidents ranging from a horse causing a car passenger to be stuck in the rumble seat to letting a load of fireworks to go off inside a shed. There is much slapstick humor in the film also but does not even come close to the level attained in the Three Stooges short films. The film has a few sight gags also which are impressive. The Criterion DVD includes an introduction by the writer, Terry Jones and includes the short film "Soigne ton gauche" or "look to your Left". This DVD was out of print for a while and was rereleased in early 2004 The current edition is identical to the previous edition. A Comedy of Memory When I first saw "Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot" many years ago, I couldn't understand what was the big deal. The film had its amusing moments - Hulot's Amilcar bouncing down the road and that tennis game! - but it seemed too slight for all the adjectives that critics had bestowed upon it. After getting the DVD two years ago (before it was temporarily discontinued), I watched it again and saw an entirely different movie. The slightness that had bored me when I was teenager had changed into a feeling of wistfulness - the sense that we're watching a transient, quickly passing moment in people's lives. Tati's comedy, much more gentle than most American comedies, reveals itself only in multiple viewings. The film is more like a comic meditation on memory: how our all-too-brief periods of leisure open up and close possbilities for friendship, love, and other human interactions. This is a film to revisit again and again. Buy M Hulot's Holiday at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on M Hulot's Holiday Search with the Priority Search Engine on M Hulot's Holiday This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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