Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953)

Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot)
Directed by Jacques Tati
Written by Jacques Tati and Henri Marquet
1953/France
Discina Film/Cady Films/Soecta Films
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#267 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Opening Titles: Mr. Hulot is off for a week by the sea. Take a seat behind his camera, and you can spend it with him. Don’t look for a plot, for a holiday is meant purely for fun, and if you look for it, you will find more fun in ordinary life than in fiction.[/box]

Monsieur Hulot drives his rattletrap car to a French seaside resort.  There he mingles with his fellow guests at a bourgeois seaside hotel.  Oblivious to everything, he manages to create chaos wherever he happens to wander.

I like Tati’s films quite a bit.  This first Monsieur Hulot film kicks off the series admirably. There is no plot or dialogue to speak of.  The sight gags and sound effects come so fast and furious that one hardly misses them. You can watch these films any number of times without feeling like you have caught everything.  I like that Hulot retains his dignity while all are losing theirs.  I also like the score very much.  Recommended.

Mr. Hulot’s Holiday was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_92Cm8gl7Ls

Trailer – subtitles unnecessary!