Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good and Very Not-American Comedy
Review: "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" is the story of a man going on vacation at a French seaside resort. It is a masterful blend of subtle and slapstick comedy, with very little dialogue. Jacques Tati is a predecessor for Mr. Bean and Monty Python, and could have given advice to Charlie Chaplin, Abbott and Costello, the Three Stooges, and the Marx Brothers. Tati's Mr. Hulot blunders through scenes, wreaking havoc obliviously, and earning the affection of the other characters and the viewer. At the same time as he causes so much trouble, he seems very wise about some things. I have watched it a dozen times or more, and seem to keep finding new quirky things to laugh at. Watch for the scene when a man stands next to the mule!The French teacher who gave this movie a poor review might want to give it another chance. Whether she likes it after that or not, it's not a good movie for a French class, as the dialog is minimal and pretty much irrelevant. I think that many Americans will be baffled the first time they see this, as it is very different from most Hollywood, in-your-face comedies. A second viewing will help.
Rating:
Summary: Really Funny
Review: A gentle and funny look back at a seaside resort in the 1950's. Tati shows his exquisite timing and subtle observation. This film was given to me as a birthday present. (DAD)It was very good and extremely witty.
Rating:
Summary: Love the title, love the film
Review: According to the 1990 US Census, Hulett is the #5444th most common surname in America. Hulot is a French spelling of this European surname. You can understand my appreciation for the title. The name just doesn't come up that often.
Fortunately this charming bit of humor hits me right where I live too. The comparison is easy to make between Tati's style to those of classic clowns like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Jerry Lewis, Red Skelton, and Rowan Atkinson's "Mr. Bean."
In this famous film, which was nominated for two Oscars and won top prize at Cannes, M. Hulot arrives at a beach resort populated with a wide variety of characters, including a retired military man, a couple of innocent and charming toddlers, a middle-aged couple who are forever strolling, and a tremendously gorgeous blonde lady with Princess Leia hair. The entire plot involves M. Hulot's attempts to take part in the various activities provided here for his vacation.
Marvelous sight gags include a diner unwittingly wiping his mouth on M. Hulot's sleeve, a photographer mistakenly taken for a peeping Tom, a bucket of paint that seems to miraculously have a mind of its own, a deflating wreath of flowers at a funeral, M. Hulot managing to unknowingly ruin two card games while hunting for his ping pong ball, and many, many, many other moments that run the gamut from sweetness to outright hilarity. My favorite sound gag is the door to the dining room, which seems somewhat akin to a tennis ball being bounced on a bongo drum. (Yes, I guess you had to be there.....so see the film!)
This DVD allows one the option of watching an English version, which I recommend. Although there is very little dialogue, with the humor mainly being visual and sound effects, the subtitles are intrusive, and unless you are familiar with the French language it's just more comfortable to hear the few lines of dialogue being spoken in English, which makes for a less jarring experience for us single-language cretins.
Overall the experience is only slightly dated, considering that this film is about 50 years old as I type this, and it's not something a restless young person could much appreciate. Unlike much of what the movie world has turned out over the past couple of decades, this bears repeated watching, as there's so much you'll miss the first time, so a DVD is a good investment here. You'll want to spend your time viewing, also, as obviously you won't get much from just listening if you have to leave the screen for a moment. Well worth your time and hard-earned cash.
Rating:
Summary: Criterion DVD back in print in 2004 !
Review: Criterion has just announced that their long-discontinued DVD versions of Jacque Tati films will be put back in print in 2004. They released a statement that reads, "At long last Criterion has succeeded in renewing its rights to Jacques Tati's classic films Mon Oncle, M. Hulot's Holiday, Jour de Fête and Playtime. The original Criterion editions of Mon Oncle and M. Hulot's Holiday will be back in print starting in January of 2004. These DVDs will be identical to Criterion's original releases in every way. Watch [ Criterion's web site criterionco.com ] for further news about Playtime and Jour de Fête." Hence, to those who are planning to buy these DVDs, avoid buying those highly-priced used discs from other sellers. (For those who are interested in the film, please refer to my April 19, 2001 review.)
Rating:
Summary: Criterion DVD back in print in 2004 !
Review: Criterion has just announced that their long-discontinued DVD versions of Jacque Tati films will be put back in print in 2004. They released a statement that reads, "At long last Criterion has succeeded in renewing its rights to Jacques Tati's classic films Mon Oncle, M. Hulot's Holiday, Jour de Fête and Playtime. The original Criterion editions of Mon Oncle and M. Hulot's Holiday will be back in print starting in January of 2004. These DVDs will be identical to Criterion's original releases in every way. Watch [ Criterion's web site criterionco.com ] for further news about Playtime and Jour de Fête." Hence, to those who are planning to buy these DVDs, avoid buying those highly-priced used discs from other sellers. (For those who are interested in the film, please refer to my April 19, 2001 review.)
Rating:
Summary: Almost great
Review: Dear Reader, I join with all the other reviewers in enjoying this film, in fact I DID bust out with guffaws at several moments, very witty and clever. I saw it first in the theater though and I must say that releasing the film in FULL SCREEN format is a shame, almost a crime. Many humorous things happen all through Tati's scenes. The Pan and Scan technique, if you can call it a technique, focuses on the appearant center of the action while leaving the extremities of the film off screen, unviewed. I urge you to write Criterion studios and ask politely that they also make a WIDE SCREEN version available for those of us who like to see the COMPLETE film the director created rather than a smaller fraction of that same vision. Would you like to view your fine art through a toilet paper tube? I purchased 3 of Tati's films:Mr. Hulot's Holiday, Mon' Oncle,and Playtime. All were in Full Screen format (only version available) and so some of the humor was not on screen that I recalled from the Wide screen versions I had seen in theaters. I was very disappointed.
Give us the whole thing or forget it. Sincerely TK RILEY
Rating:
Summary: For young and old alike
Review: Everyone will love this movie--and to be brief, there is perhaps no funnier scene (along with Peter Seller's one with the mace caught on his hand) than Mr. Hulot's encounter with the fox rug while wearing riding spurs.
Rating:
Summary: closely observed humanity
Review: Firstly and most importantly this 2004 DVD is an exceptional production.
There certainly are cuts from the original but I am sure there are technical reasons only and not an artistic fiat from Criterion, who would have included every frame possible of the original - judging by their sensitive attention to the presentation of this version.
Now to those who haven't yet seen this film.
It is addictive. There is too much to absorb in a single viewing.
Tati allows you to stand on the other side of the room - or the other side of the street - or on the edge of the beach - and watch people being as human and funny as they always are, only you don't manage to catch all the details when you you are watching in real life because you don't like to stare.
Tati loves humanity. While his gentle, eccentric clown Hulot produces some of the funniest set pieces you are likely to see anywhere, let alone on film, there is the bonus that in every single scene in M Hulot's Holiday, all players provide a muted continuous backdrop of the immense range of eccentricity we are all capable of but never know we are displaying.
It is surely no accident that 'nuance' is a french word.
A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest comedy I've ever seen
Review: For me, the one sure sign of a great movie is when scenes are so unforgettable that they replay again and again in my mind. By that standard, "M. Hulot's Holiday" is the funniest movie of all time.
I first saw this movie soon after it first appeared in theaters and thought, at that time, it would be a monumental classic. Since then, the projector in my mind has replayed so many scenes so often that in the replaying it's grown even more hilarious. From time to time, I see it again and each time realize that -- as funny as the original is -- that it has that rare quality of planting seeds which grow and blossom in my memory even more.
There is very little plot beyond 'what I did on my summer vacation' -- but there doesn't need to be.
I've also seen Jacque Tati's "Mon Oncle" several times; while it's good, to me it's several magnitudes lower than 'holiday.' I'd looked forward to seeing "Playtime" with the sure knowledge that nothing can top "M. Hulot's Holiday" and I was right. As with all humor, people have tastes for different flavors. I grew up in Vermont and prefer the somewhat droll. This film's flavor is generally slightly dry with a few wet spots. Enjoy!! And if you can't enjoy -- it's your loss that's to be pitied.
Rating:
Summary: much more than a comedy
Review: For me, this film is a comedy only in a certain sense. I rarely laugh while watching it--a chuckle here and there. But I think it is one of the most beautiful films ever made--beautiful in subject, technique, and above all in spirit. Even if you weren't alive in the 50's and even if you've never been to the French seashore, this movie will make you nostalgic for both the time and the place. Maybe this setting never really existed, but maybe a lot of Shakespeare's imaginings never "really" existed either. A truly great film.
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