As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a practitioner of “shiny object tourism.” If I see something that looks interesting, I wander in that direction – sometimes at the expense of more famous sites and attractions. But the discoveries are usually worth it and this was a day that was no exception.
I wasn’t up for riding the bike 110 miles in one day, so I made a stop in St. Nazaire, France on the way to Nantes. I’d never heard of the town before landing in Bretagne, but it’s a beautiful beach community. With a few hours to fill before dinner, I explored, wandering until I saw a sign that said “La Plage de M. Hulot.”
That struck a familiar but distant chord with me so I took a left turn and went to take a look. Sure enough, I quickly ended up on the beach where Monsieur Hulot’s adventures began with “M. Hulot’s Holiday” or “Les Vacances de M. Hulot” if you’d like to revert to the French title.
I saw this movie in a college film class and remembered some key points that made it a classic, notably the unique style of the director and star, Jaques Tati. One download later and I was able to check it out again, refreshing my memory with how wonderfully funny it is.
The film centers on Monsieur Hulot, a goofy, clumsy everyman, and the challenges he faces while trying to enjoy a holiday at the beach. While Hulot is the main character, the supporting cast is gloriously highlighted because the film is organized as a series of vignettes with scarcely any plot.
- Created and portrayed by Tati, M. Hulot went on to be a primary character in several other renowned French films (also directed by Tati), including Mon Oncle (Academy Award winner for best foreign language film) and Playtime.
- The comedy is steeped in sight gags and slapstick, owing more than a little to the silent era, but that only scratches the surface of how the movie operates. In his films, Tati intermingles social critique with the comedy, blending the two in a unique way. Often the modern lifestyle is the target and in “Holiday,” that’s no exception.
- An array of vacationers is skewered over the course of the film – from the student who continually attempts to talk politics with disinterested vacationers to the old man who follows his wife around the beach, silently but painfully resigned to her fascination with every mundane thing she sees along the shore. Even in 1953, Tati mocked the American businessman who couldn’t stop taking phone calls, ignoring his wife and son’s pleas to relax.
- Though the film was made in 1953, M. Hulot’s Holiday verges on being a silent film, but with a twist. While there is nearly no dialogue, the atmospheric sound is a cornerstone of the film – music, bits of conversation and various sounds you find at a beach resort.
- One of the things that made Tati an acclaimed auteur was his use of multiple planes of action in his films. Rather than the story taking place in the foreground, Tati frequently focuses on a blasé bit of business in the foreground, while the real action and much of the comedy is taking place deep in the frame.
It’s not an easy film to find, but if you can grab it on Netflix, it’s definitely worth checking out. There are French and English versions, but most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference.
