thisissubtitledmovies excerpt, more at my location - Those reverent of the bane of slapstick British TV comedy, Mr. Bean, may be surprised to learn that the show sprang from much deeper-rooted influences within comedic cinema. In 1953, Jacques Tati followed up his debut film, Jour de Fete, with Les Vacances De M. Hulot, the tale of a man who gets himself into hairier situations than the undeniably popular Bean, yet escapes relatively unharmed. Les Vacances De M. Hulot is less straightforward, and rather a damning social commentary from the director at its helm, but nevertheless uses similar techniques to elicit amusement from its audience.Les Vacances De M. Hulot is modestly funny and undeniably focused, zipping along with character, style, and an infectiously cheeky demeanour. The stylistic novelty of Tati's film initially feels like it's going to be a trawl through cause-and-effect comedy, but emerges as something totally different and eminently more worthwhile. It's more than an exercise in hazard perception: Les Vacances De M. Hulot is a piquant jaunt through tetchy social terrain, exhibiting all of the hallmarks of an early Charlie Chaplin picture, and packing more than enough of the punch.

random_avenger The importance and influence of French comedy master Jacques Tati's most famous character Mr. Hulot is not to be underestimated: his nearly silent antics carry on the non-verbal tradition from the earliest decades of cinema and his iconic style lives on in more recent comedy characters such as Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean. The 1953 film classic Mr. Hulot's Holiday marks the first appearance of the lovable Monsieur and was also Tati's breakthrough success to international audiences.The plot of the movie is pretty neatly summarized by the title "Mr. Hulot's Holiday". At the beginning the eponymous clumsy and pipe-smoking but always polite loner (played by Tati himself) arrives in a sunny beach resort somewhere in France along with many other tourists ranging from a workaholic businessman to a politics-obsessed intellectual and a beautiful young woman named Martine (Nathalie Pascaud). Hulot is planning to take it easy on his holiday (like he always does) but it looks like his presence keeps inadvertently causing various unexpected incidents at the resort.Just like in the later Hulot films, Tati utters few words in the lead role and allows others do the talking when necessary. Most of the time he relies on visual gags that he finds in the most mundane of things: a swinging door at the hotel, the flowing sugar dough of an ice cream seller, a noisy jazz record, Hulot's malfunctioning antique car... In many scenes creative sound effects have a much bigger importance than dialogue: a squeaky car horn, a mumbly train station loudspeaker, the swinging door... Music is used more sparingly than could be expected, but the relaxing tunes on the soundtrack are a joy to listen whenever they are heard, even though the sound quality was not the best available in the version I saw.In spite of the sunny and light atmosphere that differs from the urban settings of the other Hulot movies, there is a very melancholic undercurrent running under the surface of the story. Hulot remains so alone from start to beginning (despite getting some attention from the beautiful Martine and the other tourists) that his character just cannot be dismissed as a mere buffoon. Even though he doesn't seem to mind spending time by himself, he is obviously out of place among the busy normalcy that surrounds him wherever he goes. At least to me this outsiderness is more than just nostalgia for "good old times" when such personalities had it easier to find their place in society; it is something that resonates with most people at one point or another in their lives. Like in the next Hulot film Mon oncle (1958), children are the ones who Hulot gets along with best... perhaps both share the feeling of being on a different level than the expected form of a responsible adult.Anyway, back to the movie... The first two times I saw Les vacances, I didn't care for it much since it felt too slow-paced and much longer than it actually is. Now, after having seen other Tati films and learning to appreciate comedies on a broader level than as simple joke automats, I notice I like Les vacances a lot more than before. It is not an aggressive laugh riot, nor does it attempt to be, but instead offers a nuanced tragicomic tale for more mature tastes. As one of the shorter Hulot movies, it can also serve as a good introduction to Tati's cinema, even though personally I saw the appeal of Mon oncle before Les vacances. At any rate, both films are classics worthy of their reputations, must-sees for film buffs and quietly amusing comedies in their own right.

pascaloetterli My father told us that this was his most beloved film he'd ever seen, and he isn't really a movie-goer, never was. It's easy to rent or buy DVD's and watch a movie over and over - now - but it wasn't always like that. "There's always new things to uncover" he said to me when I was a child and so it is. As you grow older you find new interesting details, have new insights and you're still discovering more bits of Jacques Tatis masterpiece, just as you would in reading old Asterix comics of your childhood again.The movies has many messages, it reveals hidden truth about people, stuff which you may find awkward today and you begin to admire how smoothly and with much care the author tells us what he meant almost completely without words. The fine art of silent humour is still funny if you are willing to embrace it. It's so good because of the thorough observation of a society and it's individuals. It lives vividly of course with the figure of the Monsieur Hulot, a guy who is a mixture of the classical tramp, gentlemen of old school, witty and open to the modern world nevertheless. There's no going back to make a movie like that. World's being faster and faster, the cuts of this classic is slow because much is shown than just a simple main plot. And still you will find a great many things that makes you think - world hasn't changed this much. If you really think about it, holidays are still the same as they were some fifty years ago. Clearly a cinematic masterpiece, 10 out 10!

Tom May This is a languid, poetic comedy, with the sounds and the slapstick judged and timed to perfection. It all ends up rather wistfully - of course, they'll be back in Saint Marc Sur Mer next year. Won't they...? The eternal joy and melancholy of summer holidays at the seaside is distilled in this majestically economical, precise film.I once cited this in a song of mine; concerning, appropriately enough, a speculative scenario of Britain and France merging into one country - as could easily have happened in the mid-1950s. Indeed, we have interesting scenes of the aloof Hulot's interactions with some archetypal genteel English holidaymakers - the glorious tennis sequence.The use of sound is masterful; everything from distant radio frequencies to the ping-pong of tennis balls, to a creaking door, is turned into a clockwork ballet of comedy: syncopated rhythms eventually dissolving into chaos and absurdity. And there is Alain Romans' lovely score: all Gallic sophistication and forlorn vibraphone, it captures the essence of the film perfectly.Anyway, great film; this is one for those who prefer their comedy to be like a fine wine, rather than an 'Xtra-Large' soft drink.