Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
Short description
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday follows its title character, an awkward and well-meaning man who takes his summer break at a small seaside resort on the Atlantic coast. Arriving in an old, noisy car, he settles into a modest guesthouse among vacationers who cling to their familiar city routines. His clumsy attempts to join in and entertain the other guests repeatedly disrupt the calm, turning outings, picnics and an evening celebration into comical mishaps, much to the amusement of the children staying there.
The film was directed by Jacques Tati, who also stars as Hulot and co-wrote the screenplay with Jacques Lagrange and Henri Marquet, with Tati and Fred Orain producing. It was released in 1953 and runs 87 minutes. It is the second feature Tati directed, arriving between Jour de Fête and Mon Oncle, and it introduced the Hulot character who would return in several later films. Nathalie Pascaud, Louis Pérault, Micheline Rolla and Valentine Camax appear alongside Tati among a cast of 27 credited performers.
On IMDb the film holds a rating of 7.3 from around 22,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7 from 559 votes, indicating a solid and enduring reputation among general viewers. A critics' rating of 9 out of 10 from 32 reviews places it noticeably higher with reviewers than with audiences.
What's left behind the scenes
- Jacques Tati returned to *Monsieur Hulot's Holiday* throughout his life. In addition to the original 1953 version, he re-edited the film in 1960, and made significant changes to it in 1978. The final version of the film includes a scene where Hulot's boat capsizes, and swimmers mistake its hull for a shark. Jacques Tati came up with this scene after watching Steven Spielberg's *Jaws* (1975).
- To play Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati turned down work on a sequel to his own 1949 comedy, *Holiday*.
- The resort in the film is depicted in accordance with Jacques Tati's memories of his own childhood.
- The first screen appearance of Monsieur Hulot, who became the signature character of actor Jacques Tati (born Yakov Tatishev, 1907-1982).
- British actor Rowan Atkinson named Monsieur Hulot as one of the characters whose traits are present in his Mr. Bean.
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