France comedy
1953
bw 86 min.
Director: Jacques Tati
CAV: $59.95 - available
           2 discs, catalog # CC1119L
VHS: available from Home Vision Cinema
One
of the most original -- and hilarious -- comedies ever made, Mr. Hulot's
Holiday has delighted and disarmed moviegoers the world over since its first
appearance in 1954. There's little in the way of plot or dialogue to this
French-made farce about a group of vacationers at a small seaside hotel. But an
unconventional form has not stood in the way of audience appreciation of the
film's comic content -- good, old-fashioned slapstick fun. Writer-director
Jacques Tati's penchant for physical wit has prompted many to compare Mr.
Hulot's Holiday to the silent classics of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
And truth to tell, the temptation for comparison is just about irresistible in in
light of the film's hero, the hilariously accident-prone Mr. Hulot -- played by
Jacques Tati himself.With his tilted, loping walk, quirky physical mannerisms
and self-absorbed air, the tall, gawky Mr. Hulot is something of a comic
Everyman. Whether attempting to grapple with a heavy suitcase, a temperamental
horse, or a faulty motor car, Hulot is plainly not the man for the job. But like
all the great movie clowns, Hulot -- for al the scrapes he gets into -- still
manages to land on his feet, unshaken by his experiences, and largely unaware of
the comic havoc that he has inadvertently wreaked on those who've crossed his
path.
Still, for all the lines that might be drawn connecting Tati's Hulot with
Chaplin's Tramp or Keaton's "Great Stoneface," there are important differences as
well. As Tati describes it, "What I wanted to present with the character of Hulot
was a man you can meet in the street, not a music hall character. He does not
know that he is being funny." Hulot is indeed a perfectly ordinary fellow.
Chaplin and Keaton are always the instigators of comic situations. Hulot grapples
with circumstances set in motion by others. More important, unlike his comic
predecessors, Hulot is not the whole show. In Tati's eyes the antics of the other
hotel guests are equally deserving of attention -- and laughter.
Hulot's comic
comings and goings are part of a network of gags and situations woven together
and unfolded simultaneously on screen. We may be following Hulot principally, but
we are also tracking the movements of a small family, a young woman on holiday
alone, a constantly strolling middle-aged couple, a constantly squabbling pair of
hotel waiters, and any number of small children, pulling pranks or simply
wandering about between the seashore and the hotel.
Tati keeps all this action
in focus through a virtual mastery of comic film technique. He never uses
close-ups. The camera is always placed mid-distance from the action -- exactly
where we'd be standing if we happened to be a casual passerby in real life. What
he puts within each shot is equally realistic. In the world of Mack Sennett or
Laurel and Hardy, the most unlikely people, places and things are continually
brought together for the broadest possible comic effect. Tati, by contrast, takes
the world pretty much as it is -- only slightly exaggerating people and incidents
for comic effect. As a result Tati finds humor in the most mundane of
circumstances.
The sight of a group of guests waiting in a hotel lobby would
not, to most minds, suggest a prime comic opportunity. But it does to Tati, as he
underscores the situations with a fine -- but gentle -- satirical eye. Each guest
has his or her own slightly eccentric manner or mode of dress. And each has a
different reaction to the presence of the others. Hulot enters and immediately
causes havoc by forgetting to close the hotel's front door. The wind blowing
through the door into the lobby has the force of a miniature tornado resulting in
things being dropped and people bumping into one another -- much like the
state-room scene in the Marx Brothers classic A Night at the Opera. But
instead of the surreal extremes of the Marx Brothers, with Tati we see a scene we
can "place" in real life.
Tati's penchant for realism, combined with his taste
and restraint, make Mr. Hulot's Holiday the sort of comedy that one can
enjoy again and again. A first viewing will have you laughing at the classic
comedy scenes like Hulot's tennis game (Chapter 14), or the uproarious scene in
which the hapless Hulot finds himself mistaken for a mourner at a country funeral
(Chapter 13) -- and that's not to mention the bits with the muddy footprints
(Chapter 12), the raucous jazz record (Chapter 11) or the runaway car (Chapter
19).
But later viewings reveal something else, for Tati is the antithesis of
the laughs-at-any-price gagman. He wants us to laugh, but he also wants something
more. In the words of critic Pauline Kael, "Tati is sparse, eccentric, quick. It
is not until afterward -- with the sweet nostalgic music lingering -- that these
misadventures take on a certain poignancy and depth." For film director Jean-Luc
Godard it's this subtle afterglow -- a comic yet becalmed view of the world --
that really counts. "This is what interests Tati. Everything and nothing. Blades
of grass, a kite, children, a little old man, anything, everything which is at
once real, bizarre, and charming."
-- DAVID
EHRENSTEIN
Credits
Director: Jacques Tati
Screenplay: Jacques
Tati, Henri Marquet
Music: Alain Romans
Photography: Jacques Mercanton,
Jean Mousselle
Art Direction: Roger Briaucourt, Henri Schmitt
Editing:
Suzanne Baron, Charles Bretoneiche, Grassi
Transfer
This edition of
Mr. Hulot's Holiday was transferred from a 35mm master print.