Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953)

There are some areas where I’m seriously lacking in my movie knowledge and French cinema definitely is one of them. It doesn’t mean that I haven’t seen any French movies, but the total number is extremely low. It meant I wasn’t aware of the work by Jacques Tati. I have had his movie Playtime on my ever expanding to watch list, but hadn’t come around to checking it out. As a new DVD set of his movies was just released over here it was a good moment to step into the world of his most famous character: Monsieur Hulot.

This is the movie which introduced the character to the world and he is easily comparable with other slapstick characters, even though he plays it more dialled in than say a Charlie Chaplin did. I read that Rowan Atkinson based his character Mr. Bean on Hulot and I can see the comparison. The comedy often is based on great timing or strange situations in which Hulot ends up. In this case it is set at a beach hotel, in which a big group of people get away from their daily routines and in which Hulot regularly is responsible for disturbing the peace.

Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot is not a movie which really has a story where you have characters which grow. Specific characters keep returning and that way you get the feeling you start to know them a bit. The movie itself is a collection of sketches all set around the same place. There are a couple of scenes which stand out. One of them is where monsieur Hulot want to paint his boat in which his can of paint disappears because of the waves and returns just at the right moment when he wants to use it. It is a joy to watch the timing of this scene.

For a modern audience this movie might be a bit too slow and not as funny as other slapstick, but for those who are open to experiencing something different worth checking out. It is set in a time we don’t have anymore, in which there was no internet and mobile phones and where people came to have fun and interact with each other. An example of this is that everyone heads to the dining room at the same time, something you don’t see happening anymore. It was the first Tati movie I saw and am looking forward to other movies of him.