337. Mon Oncle (My Uncle) (1958)

Directed By Jacques Tati

Synopsis

M. Hulot takes care of his nephew who lives in an anti-septic modernist house in the suburbs of Paris. This contrasts with his more familiar area in the old part of the city.

Review

I really disliked Les Vacances de M. Hulot, in fact I think it is the lowest rated film on this blog up until now. Mon Oncle is, however, a different story. As you can imagine I was not looking forward to this and was, therefore, pleasantly surprised at it not being shit.

The film has a lot of faults, it is much too long, lasting almost two hours, the action is a bit too slow and it is rarely laugh-out-loud funny. Still it also has its plus points. Tati makes great use of architecture updating Chaplin's Modern Times to the late 50s, some moments are very clever... which unfortunately is not saying the same as funny.

Mon Oncle is a vast improvement over Vacances, moments are beautifully filmed, and it can at times be quite delightful... it does drag on for too long however, and the humour is too reliant on prat fall type humour. In that way you can see the influence on stuff like Mr. Bean or the Pink Panther films, further accentuated by the lack of dialogue. Tati does use sounds in a very good way, serving mostly to annoy the viewer and show how horrible modernity is... which is a bit reactionary of him, but I get where he is coming from.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The film centers on the dimwitted yet lovable character of Monsieur Hulot and his quixotic struggle with postwar France's infatuation with modern architecture, mechanical efficiency and American-style consumerism. As with most Tati films, Mon Oncle is largely a visual comedy; color and lighting are employed to help tell the story. The dialogue in Mon Oncle is barely audible, and largely subordinated to the role of a sound effect. Consequently, most of the conversations are not subtitled. Instead, the drifting noises of heated arguments and idle banter complement other sounds and the physical movements of the characters, intensifying comedic effect. The complex soundtrack also uses music to characterize environments, including a lively musical theme that represents Hulot's world of comical inefficiency and freedom.

Hulot in the kitchen: