User reviews

If you do not have the time or money to travel back to 1953 to spend a French holiday, you might as well just watch M. Hulot's Holiday. Honestly holidays are stressful and barely ever as good as you want them to be anyway, while this movie was much more than I expected it to be.

The humor in the film is warm, never condescending or patronizing to the characters. There is always the sense of fun. The movie really sells itself to me by not making Mr. Hulot a buffoon alone in the crowd. Circumstance and happening reveals everyone to be capable of situational humor, the accidents of the movie are shared with a laugh.

It is an observational movie, and the majority of the humor is not forced, neither upon us nor upon the movie itself. It merely shows how people can get involved in each others' lives, how funny the average day can be. It is like attending a family reunion, really. The camera does not stick itself to Mr. Hulot, but goes anywhere for a laugh. If a small boy is doing something funny, the camera will be there to capture it all, and then leave the boy. This would make another film feel large, but because there is no story to the film, because there is no main character to feel especially attached to, it always feels personal, it always feel like you are seeing something nobody else is.

Perhaps the best part is that the film sticks with you for days afterward, and soon Mr. Hulot's Holiday shows its real genius, as you start noticing similar things happening around you.

The picture deals with Mister Hulot going to a holiday resort where he accidentally originates destruction and disaster . The movie is plentiful of original sketches . From the beginning to the end the good humor and bland comedy are continued . The film blends tongue-in-cheek , irony , giggles , joy , jokes , social critical and is pretty bemusing and entertaining .

In spite of runtime is overlong , the run is two hours and some , isn't boring neither tiring but funny . The gentle humor developed in the film is clever and thoughtful and the comic numbers vary between slapstick and surrealist . The argument is plain and simple though is only set in a hotel and beach isn't dreary . Jacques Tati is extraordinary as Mister Hulot , character he'll repeat in a sequel : ¨My uncle¨ . Direction and interpretation by Jacques Tati is magnificent and excellent . Alain Romain's score ( habitual musician of Tati ) is agreeable and cheerful . The motion picture received awesome reviews and deserves the complete knowledge because there are amount chuckles and entertainment . The picture is nowadays considered a European cult film .

Mr Hulot goes to the seaside and madness ensues.

This is a funny funny film. Whether you see it in English or French makes no difference since the entire story is told visually, so much so that the dialog, what little there is, is not needed.

The laughs, when the come, are the sort to double you over with pain and tears in your eyes. Its wonderfully funny.

The problem that some people will have with the film is its pacing and plot. Actually there is no plot, its simply a collection of events while Hulot stays at the seaside resort. The pacing is leisurely with laughs coming after scenes of quiet beauty, and slice of life moments that seem to lead nowhere. Its like a week at the beach and moves at its own pace.

Despite what some may consider flaws THE FILM WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH. Which is all that matters. And even if you're someone like me who likes, but doesn't really love the film, you'll find yourself wanting to see this again simply to see what you missed and to marvel at the artistry (How did they do the floating paint can?)

7 out of 10.

"Mr. Hulot's Holiday" is a terrific comedy. But be warned, it is also deliberately paced, almost lacking in dialog, and absolutely plot less. In order for you to enjoy this film, you must not wait for the "story" to begin--there is not one. In fact, the film is not much more than a series of sight gags held together by a single set of characters and a single locale--but as such, it is brilliant.

Director/Star Tati's work in the Hulot films was an obvious influence on the solo films of Jerry Lewis a decade later. It is amazing that the French purportedly think Lewis a genius when in fact his best films (such as "The Bellboy," "The Ladies Man," "The Errand Boy," etc) borrow from the Tati style to the point of plagiarism.

Well, the original is better, and you don't have to endure the constant mugging.

It's probably easy to see this as just a relatively late occurrence of classic slapstick. In fact, the slapstick dimension is quite masterful. But there's a lot more to this movie than the comedic value of seeing someone get kicked. Part of the charm comes from the structure of the movie. Instead of a linear narrative or a series of sketches, it's a multi-dimensional portrait of different aspects of human nature. The "point" of the movie, if there is one (there's more likely a large array of "points" in this apparently simple comedy), isn't put out ostentatiously throughout the film. For instance, if Tati intended to admonish people to have some fun in life, it's not by showing how Hulot's having fun but by showing the respect fun may have with some people. There's also the purely aesthetic pleasure derived from a well-crafted movie. This one's fluid enough that nothing appears superfluous, from sun rays passing between drapes to one of Hulot's "accidental" gestures. Of course, there's a nostalgic value in watching such a movie. Not for 1950s France but for another era, however long ago, when insouciance might have been acceptable.

Jacques Tati's first Monsieur Hulot feature is an enjoyable throwback to the days of silent comedy, with plenty of Tati's own style thrown in as well. The series of vignettes passes by at a well-timed pace, and for all that there is little in terms of plot development, it's not long at all before you feel as if you know not just Hulot but the other characters as well.

The vacation setting makes for a pleasant, leisurely atmosphere that makes a nice setting for Hulot and the others. Each scene has plenty of good-natured humor, and most of them also contain some amusing details that are hard to catch the first time you see it, making it well worth re-watching.

The opening sequences are easy to identify with, for all that the story occurs in another time and place, since some of the numerous snags faced by the vacationers are common experiences. Then, from the time that Hulot leaves the door open as he enters, there is a non-stop stream of good comic material that highlights Tati's own character.

By keeping the dialogue to a minimum, it emphasizes the visual gags (with occasional sound effects), some of which are also amusing yet wordless comments on human nature. Tati's style would have worked very well in silent comedy, yet he also has his own character, not an imitation of Keaton or of Chaplin or of anyone else. He made even better use of the character in "Mon Oncle", but this one well deserves to be remembered and enjoyed as well.

"M. Hulot's Holiday" is one of those films that you either get or you don't. Jacques Tati was a fine physical comedian, in the same rank as Buster Keaton, and his Hulot character is perfect. If you like your comedy silent and beautifully observed, you will enjoy this film.

Watching M. Hulot play tennis creases me up every time I see it. The character's whole physical demeanour indicates that he is not wired up in the same way as other humans, even when he is standing still. You could put this oddball in any normal situation and expect him to raise a smirk.

Tati does not carry the whole film and there is enough gentle comedy from the other characters for you not to get bored with his silent shtick. M. Hulot does not overstay his welcome.

I guarantee that you will be humming the theme music for days afterwards. You won't have picked up any catchphrases from its eponymous star turn but it's an enjoyable, thoroughly French movie. If Steve Martin ever tries to remake it, he deserves to be shot.

A French classic every bit as funny as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

Except for missing the wonderfully amusing sound effects, this nearly silent film could be viewed with the sound on mute. Its plethora of homages to the great films of the silent era, meticulously executed slapstick and sight gags make me grin, smile broadly and laugh out loud every time I watch this Gallic masterpiece.

On a visual level alone, this movie works. Kids too young to understand anything about how movies are supposed to work laugh at the kayak, the fireworks, the tennis, at M. Hulot's gawky awkwardness, etc, etc.

It takes a bit more maturity, or perhaps immersion in Gallic sensibilities, to get all the underlying humor.

Whereas Monty Python takes more obvious pokes at the French, Tati's Hulot takes subtle swipes at the Brits and the Americans. It's 1953. The English speaking world has saved France from the Germans, but the French are losing the cultural battle not only to their liberator's language, but to their mechanized world. Hulot, the old French owl (note Tati's birdlike mannerisms), has become the awkward outsider in his own seaside resort. In that context, much of what might appear disjointed, takes on an appealing continuity. Ferreting it all out is like peeling an onion, layer by layer. Each viewing finds something new.

A film which improves with age and frequent viewing.

Tati is simply one of the foremost artists of the cinema. I wish I had discovered him sooner. M. Hulot's Holiday was the second feature film he directed after Jour de fete (unavailable in America at the present time). It was also the first of the Hulot series, introducing us to one of the best and most endearing characters cinephiles are ever likely to meet: M. Hulot.

However, no matter how endearing Hulot is, make sure you don't come into a film like M. Hulot's Holiday expecting a laugh riot. This particular film is not (although Mon Oncle, if you're perceptive enough, is). The comedy here, although there are some hilarious moments, puts most of its trust in slow build-ups and extraordinary cleverness. This film is an attempt to make comedy beautiful, and it succeeds oh so well. You will love all the characters, and, as the week draws to a close, you may feel sad. Although at this point I like Mon Oncle more than M. Hulot's Holiday (I have seen Mon Oncle 3 times and Holiday only once), this one is still a masterpiece, of mood if not for anything else. 10/10.

Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) comes to a beachside hotel for a vacation, where he accidentally (but good-naturedly) causes havoc.

The film affectionately lampoons several hidebound elements of French political and economic classes, from chubby capitalists and self-important Marxist intellectuals to petty proprietors and drab dilettantes, most of whom find it nearly impossible to free themselves, even temporarily, from their rigid social roles in order to relax and enjoy life. Is this, in some small way, a precursor to "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie"?

On its release in the United States, Bosley Crowther's review said that the film contained "much the same visual satire that we used to get in the 'silent' days from the pictures of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and such as those." Crowther is quite right, and it would be no surprise if Tati used these earlier comedians as his template. His previous film, "Jour de Fete", had all the earmarks of a silent comedy.

"Monsieur Hulot's Holiday" (literally "The Vacation of M. Hulot")

For me, one sign of a great movie is when scenes are so unforgettable that they replay again and again in my mind. By that standard, "M. Hulot's Holiday" is the funniest movie of all time.

I saw this movie soon after it first appeared in the USA (1953) and thought at the time it would become a classic. Since then, the projector in my mind has replayed so many scenes so often that in the replaying it's grown even more hilarious. From time to time, when I see it again, each time I realize that -- as funny as the original is -- it has that rare quality of planting seeds that grow and blossom in my memory even more. Looking for the end on a tangled garden hose always replays M. Hulot's experience with the garden sprinkler.

There is very little plot beyond 'what I did on my summer vacation' -- but there doesn't need to be. Throughout the movie from time to time we see an elderly couple who stroll, observing the follies, eccentricities, normalities, of the behaviors of people on their summer vacations. This film's perspective is that we are similar to them, strolling, observing -- and as if the film's opening and close coincide with the beginning and end of the traditional French August vacation.

I've also seen Jacque Tati's "Mon Oncle" several times; while it's good, to me it's several magnitudes lower than 'Holiday.' I look forward to seeing "Playtime" with the sure knowledge that nothing can top "M. Hulot's Holiday." But as with all humor, different folk like different flavors.

This film's flavor is generally slightly dry with a few wet spots. Tati as director observes the usual, the commonplace, the well- meaning and then tweaks it just enough to either make you smile in self- recognition or sometimes snort milk out your nose. His Monsiuer Hulot is a gentle, chivalrous soul, always trying to be helpful although he inadvertently sows occasional chaos in his wake, as if "letting no good deed go unpunished." He's obviously a cousin of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

ETA: I've just read Roger Ebert's review of "M. Hulot's Holiday"; it is superb and I recommend it to all:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/ apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19961110/REVIEWS08/ 401010328/1023 (REMOVE THE 2 SPACES)

The "Criterion" DVD version restores many portions that had previously been edited out and is by far the best version to see.

Enjoy.

Outdated as it may be, this is a remarkable slapstick comedy. It's mostly the way each sketch is choreographed than the action itself that is admirable.

It makes up for a good vehicle for Tati and his character of M. Hulot, whom he will reproduce in other films, but possibly never as well and as motivated. It is he who is the star, and there is never any doubt about it.

But at the same time, the lack of the plot makes the whole film long and overstretched. It's the same problem with a lot of slapstick comedy, and as well as that, with all due respect to Tati, it does not better the films that Keaton or Chaplin made. It's required taste, but it shouldn't be missed if you like slapstick comedy.

The strongest element - The character of Monsieur Hulot The weakest element - The almost complete lack of a definite plot.

WATCH FOR THE MOMENT - When Hulot plays table tennis. The whole sequence is slapstick gold.

I'd seen this and Mon Oncle many decades ago, so was happily expecting to enjoy seeing it again as a more mature man with a keener perspective. But seeing it this time, I had to continually say to myself (and wife) "Hang in there, it'll make sense at some point." It never did.

I consider myself somewhat of a film aficionado, able to appreciate a movie on multiple levels, and accept it for what it was trying to be to various audiences. But this is one weak film, regardless of what you are trying to get out of it. Not only was there no plot, there could not possibly have been a script or storyboard. Only in the vaguest sense did one scene follow another. If fact, I can't think of a single scene that couldn't have been placed anywhere else randomly in the film with no loss of continuity or context, because there was none to begin with.

Virtually every scene went absolutely nowhere, despite plenty of opportunity. I'd bet any amount of money that they just starting filming one day, stopped a week later, then pieced together whatever wasn't grossly overexposed, grossly underexposed, or grossly out-of-focus the best they could in a few days, and called it a film. The cinematography and editing is atrocious, given what was possible in the early 1950's.

To call this film hilarious, or a masterpiece, or a devastating political satire, is saying more about the reviewer's prior expectations than about this film. Perhaps the French laughed aloud watching this in 1954 - hey, they love Jerry Lewis, and life was much simpler then - but unless you're trying to relive your youth, you're going to say "What the..." when the closing credits appear.

We did get a chuckle out of the fox stuck to the boot...

People are in a hurry to go on vacation. They rush to the train depot. They speed down the pavement. They are all in an absurd hurry to relax and have no patience for slower traffic or animals. One such slower vehicle is a loud jalopy. It stops in front of a dog sunning itself in the middle of the road. The vehicle's owner honks the horn which sounds delightfully odd. The dog wags its tail but does not move. The horn sounds again and, once again, the dog wags its tail. Finally, the dog gets curious and goes over to the car. A hand reaches out from the car and gently pets the dog before easing the car onward to its destination. The owner of the car is Monsieur Hulot and he, too, is going on vacation. The fact that he is not in a hurry like his fellow vacationers can be attributed to the fact that Hulot lives life at an unhurried pace something that many of his acquaintances neither understand nor appreciate. Hulot is a man who prefers animals to things, play over strategy, summer relaxation over summer business, and freedom over rigid order (the headwaiter at the hotel where Hulot stays is constantly befuddled by this guest).

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday is a funny, touching, and humane look at a summer vacation. As viewers we follow Hulot, an earnest but clumsily unlucky man, through a few blissfully lazy summer days. We share his energy in play (tennis and ping pong). We feel his delight when dancing with a pretty girl at a masquerade party, where few adults have bothered to attend. We are painfully aware of Hulot's embarrassment as he dishes out abuse at a Tom who was not in fact peeping. We laugh, and cringe, at Hulot's valiant but doomed attempts to stop the escalation of an ill-timed fireworks display. Finally, at the film's conclusion, we sense the bittersweet quality with which Hulot ends his vacation, a vacation that has had humor and sadness, adventure and boredom, romance and dejection, in short a vacation full of life.

Director and Hulot star Jacques Tati does not always succeed in making me laugh (although when he does, I laugh heartily), but he always makes me smile. This week was my third go around for Monsieur Hulot's Holiday. I first watched the film a decade ago. I predict I will watch it another three times in the next ten years. I see too many films that offer nothing. Monsieur Hulot's Holiday always leaves me smiling, if somewhat sadly, from ear to ear.

It doesn't matter if you're British, not French : all the holidays of our childhoods were like this. Clear, unbroken skies, relatively empty beaches, chaos at the railway station, half the people acting strangely, the other half unyieldingly the same. There are two points where I laughed uncontrollably for several minutes, and that's more than in most films these days ! The rest is beautifully observed and more quietly funny, although Tati's use of sound can get a little irritating. And, yes, there were a number of versions of the film as Tati added bits over the years : for instance, the 'Jaws' sequence was added after Spielberg's film was released.

It's not surprising that most folks either love the movie or hate it. In fact, few films are more unlike today's comedy style than this one. It's neither manic, nor in-your-face, nor aimed at the belly-laugh. Instead, it's leisurely paced, subtly structured, and aimed at the mild chuckle, while the closest the set-ups come to the scatological are boys ogling the lovely Martine. So, all in all, don't expect to see its like at the neighborhood Cineplex anytime soon.

Tati's unusual brand of humor comes from observing life's minutiae—simple things, such as swinging doors, balky cars, and exaggerated social graces. In short, he manages to remark on the unremarkable in an amusing way. Of course, this kind of ground-level humor is not everyone's cup of tea. For me, not all the set-ups work; at the same time, the humor tends to wear thin over the 90 minutes. Still, there's a subtle charm working its way through that's quite compelling and unlike anything else I've seen. Perhaps the reviewer who finds an underlying innocence puts his/her finger on the secret of the appeal. And when the camera lingers at the end on the now deserted beach, there's a sense of some kind of wistful loss. But I've never been able to figure out exactly of what.

I had seen Jour de fête, Mon Oncle and PlayTime about 7 years ago and I was disappointed to see Les Vacances de M Hulot has some holes all along between the dozen funny gags.

Nevertheless it is charming like a postcard. The bitterness of the main line would have been better in a full-fledged comedy.

Perhaps it's me. Well I hope not: movies happen to be wonderful; great movies are simply immortal.

The measure of a good film, like a good painting, book or any other work of art, is its ability to draw you back time after time. I first saw M Hulot's Holiday more years ago than I care to remember and loved it immediately. The humour is gentle (it's not a laugh-a-minute riot) with superbly crafted scenes such as a tyre's inner tube transforming into a wreath interposed between the on-going observational humour as portrayed by the strolling husband and wife.

Seeing it again for the umpteenth time it's as fresh as the first time I saw it. In fact having lived in France for the best part of two years it appears even funnier now that it did before, something which, no doubt, reflects my own observations of the French way of life.

I initially tried to watch "Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot" ("M. Hulot's Holiday" in English) streaming on HBO Max, but it didn't have subtitles, so I went ahead and rented it from a local video store (yes, they still exist). It turned out that I didn't need subtitles after all. The movie is all about the protagonist's physical comedy. Like Gilligan and Insp. Clouseau, Hulot causes mishaps everywhere he goes; I could certainly see him as the inspiration for Mr. Bean (as confirmed by Rowan Atkinson).

Basically, this movie is all about just being funny, and it totally succeeds. The humor manages to be as heartfelt as it is silly. You're bound to love every bit of the movie.

I don't know where I stand with regard to Jaques Tati. Since I first saw 'Les Vacances' when I was a teenager I knew he was a bit different from most other comic actors/writers. However, I don't think he is worth the over-the-top praise he sometimes gets. I now have the box-set of his films from BFI, and we are watching them in chronological order. 'Jour de Fete' is delightful, but Tati's style wasn't yet polished. He reaches his peak with 'Vacances' and 'Mon Oncle' in my view. I'm so glad he stuck to black & white photography for this film, I maintain that it captures the heat and light of a summer's day better than any colour process. Combined with the easy jazz music (very French) and the sound of distant voices on the beach, it conjures up a sunny holiday so well. Most of the humour is pretty low-key and incidental (just as Tati intended) but there are some flashes of real laugh-out-loud occurrences. One is where he is wearing the rambler's back-pack and the stopper pops out of the thermos flask and knocks his hat off. I wonder how many goes they had at that? The restoration is excellent. The image is clear, clean and stable and most of the scratches and dirt have been banished. I'm glad the team did not do any more, as it can lead to the final result looking more like video tape rather than film (witness many of the restored MGM musicals). One to savour occasionally.

The week before I watched this movie, I had seen my first Jacques Tati films, the feature JOUR DE FETE and three shorts. I enjoyed the other films tremendously and was eagerly looking forward to the well-regarded MR. HULOT'S HOLIDAY. I haven't been this disappointed in a movie in quite a long time. There is *maybe* enough material in this movie for an 11-minute short film; I didn't even chuckle until about a half an hour in. The rest may make for pleasant enough travel photography, but it's essentially all filler. Situations are constantly being set up but go nowhere. For example, there's a costume party scene. Lots of opportunity for laughs, right? Wrong. Absolutely nothing happens. It's like the outtakes from a much better movie. "Well, we staged a costume party, but it didn't go anywhere, so we left it out of the REAL movie and spliced it into this outtake reel called MR. HULOT'S HOLIDAY."