One of the most delightful films you’ll ever see. Jacques Tati stars as his eponymous creation Mr Hulot in the first of several outings as it follows his vacation to a small seaside town on the coast of Brittany.
Effortlessly charming, it captures a kind of idyllic, timeless view of postwar France that I wished I could have experienced.
The film is a series of vingettes following Hulot’s often failed attempts to have a relaxing time as events conspire against him, but he. Highlights include a malfunctioning boat, a car tire mistaken for a wreath, and a disasterous firework display. Almost entirely dialog free, it uses sound and a delightul jazz soundtrack to set the mood with an obsessive, laser focussed interest in the minutiae of behavior, it follows a number of other vactioners as they interact and become exasperated or bemused by Hulot’s antics.
Hulot drifts through the world semi-oblivious to what is going on around him, but is very endearing, you wish he was your Grandfather, a theme explored more thoroughly in the follow up film Mon Oncle.