We use cookies to personalize your experience and analyze traffic. You can opt out at any time.
Directed by Jacques Tati
Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot
An acclaimed, slow-burn comedy.
Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort, where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s masterpiece of gentle slapstick is a series of effortlessly well-choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers; it was the first entry in the Hulot series and the film that launched its maker to international stardom.
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday isn't screening in cinemas right now.
Follow the film in the app to get notified when showtimes are added.
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday showtimes, refreshed every morning
Pick your cinema, get a nudge before it leaves screens.
This feels like the most fitting thing to watch after moving to LA. Aggressively laid back with a hint of chaos underneath. This barely worked for me but at the end of the day I still admire it. It’s so atmosphere heavy, and from what I’ve read Tati only gets more atmospheric from here. I smiled a lot! While I watched this my roommate watch You Were Never Really Here for the first time which is kinda hilarious lol
Oh, the pain and effort it takes for us all to relax. God save the Hulots of this world. They are of a dying breed and we need them!
I was alternately charmed and bored by Mr Hulot's Holiday. On one hand, it's quite atmospheric and some of the supporting characters are delightful. But on the other hand, the film moves along at such a labored pace that I had to fight hard not to lose patience with it.Mr Hulot's Holiday can be regarded as an attempt at slapstick comedy in the vein of greats like Chaplin and Keaton. There is an oddball character, Mr Hulot; a distinct setting; plenty of sight gags, and nearly no dialogue. But what makes Jacques Tati's film seem more like an unsuccessful knockoff than anything is its complete disregard of pacing. That's something you would never say about a Chaplin or Keaton film.Look, there's nothing wrong with not having a story. And it's nice to watch slapstick comedy executed so gracefully. But at some point, a film has got to stop feeling like a string of endless disconnected scenes.Mr Hulot was likable enough, but he lacked a distinct, well-rounded personality. Some of the sight gags were quite marvelous - the boat that folds into a shark-like maw, the tennis match, and the paint can that's always there for Mr Hulot when he needs to dip his brush into it - but for many of the other gags I didn't even crack a smile.As a comedy, Mr Hulot's Holiday failed to make me laugh the way a Chaplin film would, and its central character didn't feel anywhere near as endearing as Buster Keaton's perpetually suffering stone face. But as a gentle social satire, the film was a lot more appealing.Mr Hulot's Holiday pokes fun at the strange ways people set out to enjoy a holiday, but it also loves them for it. Several characters are instantly memorable - the put-upon waiter, the aged couple and their determination to enjoy themselves, the English lady - in fact, a lot more memorable than Mr Hulot's antics. (His romance with the blonde lady was pretty cute, however.)I wish I had been able to better appreciate Mr Hulot's Holiday. Perhaps on subsequent viewings it will grow on me. I hope so, anyway.
The film follows the titular character as he takes a vacation at a charming seaside resort, where his well-meaning but awkward behavior inadvertently causes chaos for the other guests.
Jacques Tati directed the film in 1953, creating one of the most celebrated works of French observational comedy.
It is not a silent film, but it relies heavily on visual gags, physical humor, and diegetic sound effects rather than dialogue to tell its story.
