Mr. Hulot’s Holiday

In Jacques Tati movie Les vacances de M. Hulot a group of city dwellers escape New York’s hustle bustle to enjoy a week at the calm shores of the beach. However to their surprise their vacation is far from relaxing. Mr. Hulot played by Jacques Tati is one of the vacationers who acts more like a child than adult. He clowns around causing problem at a time. The other vacationers are constantly annoyed and aggravated by Mr. Hulot and avoid him at all costs. The movie discusses themes such as vacationing, foolishness, and existence.

Jacques Tati developed one of the first comical movies. His film was not focused around plot but more on making his audience laugh. In doing so he incorporated music and sound effects with funny skits to increase the feeling of each comical scene. Tati returned to the first movie producers such as Lumiere, Melies, and Porter for inspiration. These directors existed when story telling was not a priority therefore Tati found a non-narrative way of seeing. (1)

Filming was not a major concern for Tati. Again, like his plot he focuses more on the audience’s reaction than actual story telling. He wanted the audience to make their own assumptions about each scene. In doing so, he was unprejudiced and held no prioritites. He favored long shots over short close up’s because he felt the whole image was more important than the finer details. For example in the opening scene at the train station, there are no close ups but instead one long shot of panicked people running around misled by the mumbling train announcer. “The viewer is led to explore the entire field of the shot, from near to far and from side to side, top to bottom. The viewer learns to direct his attentions for himself; Tati will not make the choice for him.” (1)

Several themes were developed throughout the film. From what was portrayed married couples were shown lacking interest and romance. They were pictured mundane and cold. They failed to interact with each other and often kept to themselves. However Mr. Hulot helped to soften the tension between the couples and help them appreciate the finer things in life. Foolishness was another reoccurring theme. Mr. Hulot's action was an example of stupidity. He took life lightly and set examples for others. The last and final theme was the difference between adult and children. Adults were picture snobby and arrogant as the children represented happiness and joy. The role between the two played in Mr. Hulot’s personality and charisma. Although he was an adult he acted like a child but through his actions people saw a different way to enjoy life and often questioned their own happiness. 

                                                Work Cited

1). Kehr, Dave. "Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot - Film (Movie) Plot and Review - Publications." Film Reference. Advameg, Inc, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. <http://www.filmreference.com/Films-Tw-Vi/Les-Vacances-de-Monsieur-Hulot.html>.