Product Description

Slapstick prevails when Jacques Tati's eccentric hero Monsieur Hulot is let loose in the ultramodern house of his brother-in-law, and in an antiseptic factory that manufactures plastic hose. Tati directs and stars in the second entry of the Hulot series, a delightful satire of mechanized living. Academy Award winner, Best Foreign Film.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10406 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2004-01-06
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 116 minutes

Amazon.com
A comic masterpiece from director-star Jacques Tati (Playtime, Traffic), this 1958 film--Tati's first in color--reprises the carefree, oblivious title character from the director's hilarious international hit Mr. Hulot's Holiday. This time, the story finds Hulot, a self-involved twit on a constant collision with the physical world, grappling with 1950s-style progress. Visiting his sister and brother-in-law in their ultra-progressive household full of noisy gadgets and futuristic decor, Hulot inevitably has dust-ups with modernity, each one exceptionally funny. Taking a page from Buster Keaton's playbook, Tati also employs his trademark techniques with sound and production design to achieve the indefinable, comic genius of his films: the rhythmic clacking of footsteps, the cartoon-panel distance of his camera frame from the heart of the action. (Why are funny things funnier when seen from a few extra feet away?) Tati is one of the cinema's great treasures, and this movie is unforgettable. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Tati's Wise and Wonderful Comedy.
In looking at the other reviews of "Mon Oncle", it would seem that people either love or hate this movie. From my 5-star rating, you can see that I am in the former category. I fail to understand how a film can be called boring, when it is so full of life, and witty observations. Rather than feeling that it was too long, I was sorry when it was over.

In "Mon Oncle", the well-meaning, but dim-witted M. Hulot comes face to face with modern living and technology. His brother-in-law is an affluent executive with a plastics company, and owns a state-of-the-art home, full of amazing gadgets. The house is also a tasteless nightmare, devoid of warmth and comfort, with a "garden" to match. You will not soon forget the atrocious fountain, with a huge, metal fish spewing water into the air--but only to impress important guests, of course. In this concrete monstrosity, the couple are also attempting to raise a small boy, who understandably has more fun away from the place, with his uncle Hulot.

Tati is constantly contrasting old-fashioned, small-town life with urban "progress". In addition to the "house from hell", we see the huge, boring factory where Hulot's brother-in-law works, and where he tries, with hilarious lack of success, to land M. Hulot a job. Meanwhile, back at the ranch--er house--we have the outdoor party scene, with a bizarre group of co-workers and neighbours desperately trying to look important and convivial. Of course, Hulot unwittingly undermines the whole celebration, with a little help from that hideous fountain.

There are a number of scenes of children being--well--children--playing tricks on unsuspecting people. Some scene-stealing dogs are also part of the mix.

The DVD is impressive--colours are excellent--the sound naturally is mono. There is a touching introduction by Terry Jones, the well-known director and Monty Python graduate. Also included is an early short film with Tati called "School for Postmen" which is very amusing--a nice bonus.

For those people who consider "Mon Oncle" to be a comedy masterpiece, I agree completely. If you like Tati and his unforgettable creation, M. Hulot, this disc has to be in your collection.

Thank you, Criterion, for bringing Tati back from obscurity!
Tati is undoubtably one of the great filmmakers of all time. And this despite the fact that he only released three films under his total control (M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY, MON ONCLE, and PLAYTIME), all available now on Criterion DVD. What is even more impressive is that, unlike the great Howard Hawks, who successfully directed movies of every genre, Tati's accomplishment was to sucessfully document the development of the modern world under the guise of three simple, light-hearted comedies. From the whimsical near-silent classic HOLIDAY, to the clash of the modern with the traditional in MON ONCLE, to the crushing approach of metal and glass over the classical world in PLAYTIME, Tati made brilliant films that, while obstensibly comedies, offer some of the most insightful commentary on the joy of life to be found in cinema. No movies I can think of are more deserving of DVD presentation. Each film is a masterpiece that warrants repeated viewings (PLAYTIME being particularily challenging).

MON ONCLE, a popular favorite, and beautifully restored here in saturated colors, is a comedy that comments on the threatened loss of the enjoyment of the simple things in life due to the demands of the modern world. Or at least those demands that have been self-inflicted. It is just as prescient today as the it must have been in 1958, maybe more so. Terry Jones' nice opening commentaries comment on Tati's carefully constructed sight-gags, but I find Tati's subtle commentaries on the modern world to be more interesting. Note, for instance, that the workers who are perpetually demolishing older buildings are encroaching towards Hulot's charming neighborhood as the film progresses.

I cannot recommend Tati's films highly enough. And for those who collect Criterion releases but are somewhat unsure of this sudden rash of releases by a relatively unknown French auteur, I say jump right in, and if you can't stand Tati's films after several viewings, e-mail me and I'll buy them from you!

P.S. The additional feature alone is worth the price for Tati fans.

Les deux Frances: urban jungle and the romantic village
In Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle, the sequel to Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, we meet the Arpels, who are scheduled, gadget-happy, ultramodern technology-obsessed in a classical effort to keep themselves ahead of les Joneses. Upwardly mobile doesn't even begin to describe them. Madame Arpel is so obsessed in keeping everything dust free, that at one point in the movie, she brushes her husband's suit, briefcase, and hat as he is walking to his car. She even polishes the car door handle after he gets inside. She waves after the departing car, a cloud of dust issuing from her dustrag.

In contrast, Madame Arpel's brother, the tall and gangly Monsieur Hulot (played by Jacques Tati), lives in a village square area where humanity is abuzz. There's the street sweeper, who never gets done because someone's always striking up a conversation with him. And there's a girl, not yet a woman, who seems to have a crush on Monsieur Hulot. Chez Margot, the cafe there, seems to be a haven, where someone says, "Come on in, have a drink and a chat" and people come out feeling wonderful.

The tall, gangling Hulot is a bumbler, unintentionedly so, but he's a nice guy. He gives candy to the girl standing at the door of his apartment building, he goes in for drinks at the pub, he picks up his young nephew Gerard from school and indulgently lets him play games that gets him dirty or in trouble if he were to get caught. Hulot is clearly uncomfortable being at his sister and brother-in-law's house.

Gerard, to the chagrin of his father, enjoys being with his uncle because he is allowed to be free, unshackled from his parents' lifeless, repressive, antiseptic, technological household. Once with his uncle, he plays pranks on people with the other kids, and enjoys crullers with sugar and jam from the local vendor.

This is clearly a struggle between two values: the technological progressives and the romantic conservatives. The contrast between the cold, antiseptic, technologically advanced home of the Arpels, and the lively simplicity of Monsieur Hulot's neighborhood. But it's also one of transition and change, of the change France underwent post-industrial change after the war. Gerard undergoes change, as does the girl who likes Hulot.

There is a party scene that demonstrates how chaos in an ordered system can quickly cause that system to degenerate. At the party, Arpel decides to give his brother-in-law a chance at the plastic factory, which is probably not the best career decision a supervisor could make.

Mon Oncle is also full of sight and sound gags, (hey, it's a comedy after all) such as the funny gargling fish fountain and the click-clack of the factory floor secretary and the swinging motion of her body. Other people laugh in funny ways, such as Madame Pichard, the wife of Arpel's plant manager. She seems a silly goose but at least she seems fun. And then there's the idyllic jazz score of piano and accordion, which permeates throughout the movie.

What can I say? A tried and truly enjoyable classic. Jacques Tati clearly favoured the old-fashioned village life as opposed to the concrete, steel, and plastic jungle. To conclude, Mr. Arpel says at one point that it's time for his brother-in-law to stop dreaming and get to work. Well, keep on dreaming, Monsieur Hulot and be yourself!