MONSIEUR HULOT'S HOLIDAY

France, 1954, 80 minutes, Black and White.
Directed by Jacques Tati.

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday gives us one of the earliest of the comedies of Jacques Tati. Tati, in the tradition of the silent comics, relies for humour on mimicry, mime, amusing situations, sight jokes and on exposition of ordinary human foibles. With minimum dialogue, he utilises the sounds of the environment to make his miming and foibles funnier.

Tati's topics of humour are the ordinariness of human life, a very, very gentle mocking of the oddity sides of our behaviour. Here it is a summer holiday at the seaside where we could very easily see ourselves. His later films have broadened in scope to include twentieth century mechanisation - Mon Oncle (1957), Playtime (1968), Traffic (1971).

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday makes its audience laugh, but it also shows the value of the best styles of comedy.

1. How funny was this film? Why?

2. What was Tati's purpose in making the film? He said in the prologue that he wanted to make people laugh. Was this enough? Why? Is this the way most audiences would take the film?

3. Tati also said that we would see people as they are and that perhaps we might see ourselves. Did we? How?

4. Holding mirrors up to people is a moralising kind of activity. How much of a moralist is Tati? Does he want to change people? What effect does he want from people when he shows them themselves?

5. Comic looks at people generally involve satire. How satirical is Tati's film? Of whom? Of what?

6. Is Tati at all cruel in his comic and satirical comments? What is the effect of gentle satire?

7. what foibles of human nature are being laughed at and with?

8. How funny is Monsieur Hulot himself? How comical? How satirical a figure? How satirical when one considers that Tati acts this part himself?

9. What aspects of holidays are being satirised?

10. The other characters - the girl, Henry and his wife, the Americans, the elderly enthusiastic lady, the waiters and so on. Why were they funny?

11. Some of the situations - cemetery, tennis, boating, meals, card games etc., why were they funny?

12. How necessary is comedy in showing funny and ordinary foibles?