Les Vacances de M. Hulot (1953)
In my self set task to cover each major aspect of French cinema, it now falls upon the work of Jacques Tati to come into the spotlight. Of his body of work his films concerning the creation of Monsieur Hulot are the best known, and it is with the first of the M.Hulot films that I begin.
Between 1953 and 1971 M.Hulot had a total of four outings, as well as a brief cameo in Francois Truffaut’s Bed and Board. The first of these appearances came in Les Vacances de M. Hulot, a film detailing the titular characters summer vacation by the sea. The key plot point of the M.Hulot films is that M.Hulot is seen to be a character out of time, and that is where the comedy generally comes from. His manners are lost in the contextually modern world, with the only people seemingly relating to him being an elderly couple that clearly come from the same world that M.Hulot would in once have existed. In contrast to this, and a point clarified by Terry Jones during the films introductory statement, M.Hulot is actually very progressive in the first film in the series. I’m led to believe that this isn’t the case with the later films, but his adoption of jazz music, his attitude towards activity (tennis, sailing) and the finale of the film, in which M.Hulot inadvertently “attacks” the conformist and old fashioned holiday literally with a mass of fireworks suggests a reactionary stance that contradicts the initial concept.
“This is what interests Tati. Everything and nothing. Blades of grass, a kite, children, a little old man, anything, everything which is at once real, bizarre, and charming.” Jean-Luc Godard
What I found to be one of the most interesting aspects of Les Vacances de M. Hulot, stylistically at least, was its use of sound. In a manner which at once both acknowledges and pays respect to the silent clowns of the early cinema, and takes the foundations that they built and gives it a fresh spin, Les Vacances de M. Hulot contains very little audible dialogue. The rather surreal, yet
wholly appropriate sound of children fills the air for much of the films 87 minute running time, and while there is little dialogue this is in no way reminiscent of silent film in terms of mise-en-scene. The noise surrounding each scene, be it the screams of the joy-filled children, or the sputtering of M. Hulot’s beaten down old car engine provide an atmosphere that perhaps justifies and advanced the use of sound beyond any simple line of dialogue. Its interesting how the opening chapter involving a train bears no subtitles. This suggests just how incidental dialogue was towards Tati’s vision. Its proof that the language of film in its purest form is completely universal.
Tati’s brand of humour is incredibly visual, and as such we are privy to a film that is technically very clever, and poetically beautiful in terms of the cut. There is a high standard of craft on display, with a clear insight into the sheer amount of effort that Tati has gone to on show. And while a lot of the gags may seem rather tame compared to that produced in a world of computer wizardry and digital editing (and no doubt a world Hulot himself would have found interesting…), but they still hold up. Its the kind of timeless comedy that has lasted for generations, and will do so for generations to come. Even outside of the comedic scenario’s Les Vacances de M. Hulot is a fascinating looking film, with an early scene revealing the ocean from the backseat of a car being a shot that will stay in the mind. That Tati himself portrayed M.Hulot is also very important. In doing so Tati is addressing the viewer directly, both literally and in terms of being the “voice” of the picture that a director would normally assume.
“Tati is sparse, eccentric, quick. It is not until afterward—with the sweet nostalgic music lingering—that these misadventures take on a certain poignancy and depth.” Pauline Kael
Thematically the film is seemingly concerned with the issues on display, and less of a subtext (outside the one of “progression” that is central to the films narrative). There are a few asides towards politics, and perhaps even the place of such things in the cinema. On several occasions a politically minded young man is shown up to be lacking somewhat by our protagonist, and there is a key moment whereby M.Hulot’s jazz record drowns out the sound of an “important” political statement on the radio. While these are clearly addressing the role of politics in cinema, as someone who is largely unfamiliar with Jacques Tati I’m not sure how much of a statement this was. No doubt further exploration into his work will reveal more.
Contextually Les Vacances de M. Hulot fell at an interesting period in French cinema history. Coming five years prior to the release of The 400 Blows, which marked the birth of the New Wave, Tati’s film split the Cahier’s crowd. While Tati felt the wrath of Francois Truffaut, Godard referred to Tati’s sense of situation, and his ability to observe as ” Real, bizarre and charming”. Tati’s film, alongside those of Henri-Georges Clouzot, Christian Jaque and the other filmmakers of pre-Nouvelle Vague France were unitedly responsible for the direction French Cinema took in 1959, yet history has looked very kindly on Tati’s films, with his emergence as an important part of French cinema firmly established almost 60 years on from the first M.Hulot film. The entire city of Paris is entering the final few weeks of a three month celebration of the work of Tati, and there is a statue of M.Hulot gracing the pier of Saint-Marc-sur-Mer, the beach town where Les Vacances de M. Hulot was shot. Even Truffaut eventually came around to the genius of M.Hulot, by including him briefly during a scene in Bed and Board. Its also worth noting that Les Vacances de M. Hulot is one of the few comedy features to win an award at Cannes, and bizarrely, considering the lack of dialogue, the film garnered a best original screenplay nomination at the 28th Academy Awards.
