Classic Movie Reviews
Mr. Hulot’s Holiday
By Josh Spiegel
June 5, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Someone's got an oral fetish.
A long time before there was Mr. Bean, the silent English bumbler who would often cause excessive problems for himself and those around him, there was Mr. Hulot. When it comes to these silent goofballs, Jacques Tati's Mr. Hulot may be the very best of them all. Granted, even this French creation of the 1950s was heavily inspired by two American greats, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Still, when you watch a movie like 1954's Mr. Hulot's Holiday, it's hard not to see where British comedian Rowan Atkinson got all of his inspiration for Mr. Bean.

Jacques Tati isn't a very well-known quantity on our shores, despite his films having a lasting effect on a certain brand of comedy that could be seen in even an animated movie like WALL-E. Mr. Hulot's Holiday isn't concerned with big plot points or major character development; all is about setting jokes up and then letting them get paid off. As the little Pixar robot trundled around a vacated planet, so Mr. Hulot gamely walks around a beachside villa, says nothing, and ends up getting himself in a few scrapes. As I mentioned above, the easiest touchstone for folks in the 21st century is Mr. Bean, who did pretty much the same thing as Tati's Hulot, even in his most recent movie, Mr. Bean's Holiday. If you've not seen that 2007 comedy, let's just say that not having Willem Dafoe in his film didn't hurt Tati at all.

Still, watching Mr. Hulot's Holiday, the plot of which is as simple as saying that Hulot goes to the villa on vacation and gets into trouble, requires a bit of patience. As it came not only from a different era of filmmaking, but a different country with different cultural norms, the movie doesn't feel like any kind of comedy we'd seen in America or even the United Kingdom. Tati is just as interested here in making statements about various parts of the French population, specifically those who are heavily invested in politics, for right or wrong reasons. Oh, there's plenty of humor to be had, as when Hulot has some problems changing a flat tire, or has a run-in with fireworks, or the confusion that arises with a squeaky door. However, if you go in with the mindset that you're going to watch a precursor of Mr. Bean in more ways than one - as I did, knowing a little bit about this movie, but not a lot - you may find yourself left wanting.

Yeah, I know it feels like I spend every one of my attempts to watch, for the first time, a classic movie by ragging on it, but I do feel that Mr. Hulot's Holiday is a movie worth watching, one that I will gladly watch again. Even more, I'd like to see the character of Mr. Hulot in films such as 1967's Playtime. There's something oddly inexplicable about Mr. Hulot's Holiday that seems to require repeat viewing. This is obviously not a complicated and complex film with heady plot threads, but when all of the people who were staying at the villa, Hulot included, get ready to leave and start waving goodbye to each other, you feel like you're going to miss these people. In a way (not a bad one), I felt like I'd spent an entire vacation with Mr. Hulot and company. I can't say I laughed out loud much, though; this is the kind of movie that you smile at, sometimes only on the inside, instead of guffaw or chuckle at.

That alone is a big difference with Mr. Hulot and Mr. Bean. Tati spent his time working on his character so he could also make statements about, in this case, Communism, French politics, and the character of the people who embody or attempt to espouse those ideas. Atkinson and his co-writer Richard Curtis used Mr. Bean to...well, make jokes. There are no deep statements being made when you watch a hapless, goggle-eyed goober get a Christmas turkey stuck on his head.

I suppose that's what caught me off guard; not that Tati chooses to use Mr. Hulot's Holiday for something grander than just comedy, but that he's able to weave the titular figure, someone used only to be laughed at, with heavier ideas. Comedy can be used to further intellectual ideas and stimulate audience members, but more often than not, those who work in the genre tend to avoid dealing with anything that won't provoke big laughter. That Tati is able to paint with a relatively broad brush in describing the other people who are spending some time at the villa without dragging down the fun of watching these people make dummies of themselves is a credit to his swift direction and lack of heavy-handed portrayals.

Hulot is really the only character who's completely faceless, lacking personality. Granted, we're not here to learn about who these people are, but everyone aside from Hulot is given something that defines them as a person. Hulot's defining characteristic is simply his ability to screw things up. Even Mr. Bean, a cartoonish fellow at best, was given a childlike view of the world, from his little teddy bear to his colorfully-decorated bedroom. Hulot is more of a blank, a cipher; frankly, he's almost an audience member stumbling into this motley group. If anything, the biggest flaw that Mr. Hulot's Holiday has is this lack of relationship to the title character. Again, it's hard to talk about this movie in more conventional terms, because it's anything but conventional. However, when you compare Mr. Hulot with his silent comedian brethren, you're left a bit cold. Though we knew nothing of Chaplin's Little Tramp, how can you not feel a great swell of emotion at the end of City Lights, thrilling as, in some small way, he finally gets to see his true love without any barriers? Watching Keaton's The General is not only exciting for its action, but the romance carries us through the entire film. What, then, of Hulot?

There are no rules that comedy requires a sufficient amount of emotion to keep the audience satisfied. No matter; it's hard to find any comedy that doesn't have some kind of emotion, whether it's fondness for a character or something more, present. Though Mr. Hulot's Holiday features a beautiful blonde who's cooed over by some of the villa's denizens, there's no real connection we can feel with these people. Maybe what draws me toward watching the film again, toward wanting to see these people again, is how I feel like I connect to them in some way. They all fit a common type of person: there's the fierce politico, the chatty busybody, the quiet beauty. Just because Tati makes all of the characters familiar based on people we've all encountered in our lives doesn't mean it's enough to make a strong bond.

So, I come down on Mr. Hulot's Holiday as a film absolutely worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of the type of humor that the stories of Mr. Bean would so often feature. As long as you expect to not feel any connections and just get some amusement out of the simple storyline, you shouldn't feel too left out in the cold. Do remember, though, that Mr. Hulot and company aren't going to stick with you as truly memorable characters.