Reviews of M. Hulot's Holiday
Displaying all 3 reviews
Michael Harbour
16Jan12
Janus Films has been touring a newly restored, newly struck 35 mm print of this charming film. It looks great! The movie retains it’s charm, humor and wry insight. I think many of the gags could have been improved by allowing them to develop a bit longer, but they’re still good as is.
Undoubtedly influential and I have no doubt that Steve Martin, Rowan Atkinson and Peter Sellers studied Jacques Tati’s Hulot. I found it also a bit reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki’s gentle family films such as “My Neighbor Totoro”.
- Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
Eric Osborn
5Sep09
The closing frames are so remarkably fitting, because this really is a ninety minute postcard. We know so little about these characters, even Hulot himself, but by the end we feel like we’re right there on vacation with them. It’s amusing and entertaining, heartwarming and a bit bittersweet, and it leaves you hoping so much that when these characters say they’ll be returning the following year, that they truly mean it.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
asuraf
4May09
One of the most famous and successful foreign imports of all time, Jacques Tati’s second film, and the first appearance of his Hulot alter-ego, is a carefully constructed comedy of slapstick and observation. Mr. Hulot goes to the beach for summer holiday, arriving in a beat up jalopy and wreaking unintentional havoc by inviting a windstorm into the hotel lobby, the first in a series of disasters caused by Hulot that Tati, and his fellow vacationers, perform without the slightest knowledge of their origin. The comedy is deadpan, with no close-ups or obvious punch lines, physical with a nod to mime and silent film, and in its quaint post-card depiction of carefree life at the beach, it’s Tati’s breeziest film, with the much more elaborate “Mon Oncle” and “Playtime” in the future.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.