Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953)

Last night's beautifully restored digital presentation of Mr. Hulot's Holiday reaffirmed what I originally thought when viewed for the first time, just 2 weeks ago. It's a five star classic! Having heard so much about the film for so long but never having had the chance to catch it, I snapped up a ticket two weeks ago to see it as a one-off special screening at the Ciné lumière. And, as the highlight of their "Totally Tati" season, it didn't disappoint.

To give the occasion even more prestige, Britain's very own Monsieur Hulot, Rowan Atkinson, kicked of the proceedings with a wonderful 6/7-minute speech highlighting how Tati and Hulot (in particular) have influenced his professional career, most notably with Mr. Bean. He first saw the film at the age of 17 and watched it four times in two days. Highlights are featured below:

Pay particular attention to part 4, in which the verb "wibble" is used in the present continuous form. Love it!

Part 1: His introduction to Monsieur Hulot's Holiday



Part 2: The nature of Monsieur Hulot



Part 3: Pace of comedy



Part 4: Visual Comedy



Part 5: The importance of Sound