| Mon Oncle | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Jacques Tati |
| Produced by | Jacques Tati |
| Written by | Jacques Lagrange Jean L'Hôte Jacques Tati |
| Starring | Jacques Tati Jean-Pierre Zola Adrienne Servantie Alain Bécourt |
| Music by | Franck Barcellini Alain Romans |
| Cinematography | Jean Bourgoin |
| Editing by | Suzanne Baron |
| Distributed by | Gaumont (France), Continental Distributing (U.S.)[1] |
| Release date(s) | 10 May 1958 |
| Running time | 120 minutes (French)[2]; 111 minutes (English)[2] |
| Country | France, Italy[1][2] |
| Language | French |
| Budget | FRF 250,000 (est.) |
Mon Oncle ("My Uncle") is a 1958 film comedy by French filmmaker Jacques Tati. The first of Tati's films to be released in colour,[3] Mon Oncle won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,[4] a Special Prize at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival,[5] and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film, receiving more honors than any of Tati's other cinematic works.
The film centers on the socially awkward yet lovable character of Monsieur Hulot and his quixotic struggle with postwar France's infatuation with modern architecture, mechanical efficiency and American-style consumerism. As with most Tati films, Mon Oncle is largely a visual comedy; color and lighting are employed to help tell the story. The dialogue in Mon Oncle is barely audible, and largely subordinated to the role of a sound effect. Consequently, most of the conversations are not subtitled. Instead, the drifting noises of heated arguments and idle banter complement other sounds and the physical movements of the characters, intensifying comedic effect. The complex soundtrack also uses music to characterize environments, including a lively musical theme that represents Hulot's world of comical inefficiency and freedom.
At its debut in 1958 in France, Mon Oncle was denounced by some critics for what they viewed as a reactionary or even poujadiste view of an emerging French consumer society, which had lately embraced a new wave of industrial modernization and a more rigid social structure.[6] However, this critique soon gave way in the face of the film's huge popularity in France and abroad – even in the U.S., where rampant discretionary consumption and a recession had caused those on both the right and the left to question the economic and social values of the era.[7][8] The film was another big success for Tati as with a total of 4,576,928 admissions in France. [9]
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M. Hulot (Jacques Tati) is the dreamy, impractical, and adored uncle of young Gérard (nine years old), who lives with his materialistic parents in an ultra-modern geometric house and garden (Villa Arpel) in a new suburb of Paris, situated just beyond the crumbling stone buildings of the old neighborhoods of the city. Gérard's parents, M. and Mme. Arpel, are firmly entrenched in a machine-like existence of work, fixed gender roles, and the acquisition of status through possessions and conspicuous display. (A running gag involves a fish-shaped fountain at the center of the Arpels' garden that Mme. Arpel turns on only for important visitors).
Each element of Villa Arpel is representational rather than functional, an environment completely hostile to the comfort of its occupants. In choosing modern architecture to punctuate his satire, Tati once stated, "Les lignes géométriques ne rendent pas les gens aimables" ("geometrical lines do not produce likeable people").[10] From pas japonais positioned like mine fields, to impossible-to-sit-on furniture, to a kitchen with the decibel level of a jet engine, every facet of Villa Arpel emphasizes the supremacy of superficial aesthetics and electrical gadgets over the reality of daily living.
Despite the superficial beauty of its modern design,[11] the Arpels' home is entirely impersonal, as are the Arpels themselves. In fact, M. and Mme. Arpel have completely subordinated their individuality to maintain their social position and their shiny new possessions. Tati emphasizes his themes surrounding the Arpel lifestyle (as well as M. Arpel's automatonic workplace, Plastac) with monochromatic shades and cloudy days; vivid colors and bright light coincide only with the arrival of visitors, particularly Uncle Hulot.
In contrast, Uncle Hulot, the quintessential poète des terrains vagues,[12] lives in a small old corner of the city. He is unemployed, and gets around town either on foot or on a rather tired VéloSoleX. Though he is obviously without possessions, he does not seem to notice; color, light, and frivolity inhabit Hulot's world. Young Gérard, utterly bored by the sterility and monotony of his life with his parents, fastens himself to Uncle Hulot at every opportunity. Uncle Hulot, little more than a child himself at times, is completely at home with Gérard, but also completely ineffectual at controlling his horseplay with his school friends, who take delight in tormenting adults with practical jokes.[6] Exasperated at their uncle's perceived immaturity, the Arpels soon scheme to saddle him with the twin yokes of family and business responsibilities.[6]
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The sets for the film, designed by Jacques Lagrange, were built in 1956 at Studios de La Victorine (now known as Studios Riviera), near Nice, and torn down after filming was complete.[13] An English version of the film, nine minutes shorter than the original[2] and released as My Uncle, was filmed at the same time as the French-language version. In the English-language release, French signs are replaced by ones in English; important dialogue is dubbed in English, while background voices remain in French.
Bosley Crowther said the film had a "cast of colorful and adroit supporting players, all nonprofessionals" and a "gay but somewhat monotonous musical score"; he called the film "perceptibly contrived when it lingers too long and gets too deeply into the dullness of things mechanical. After you've pushed one button and one modernistic face, you've pushed them all. Mr. Hulot [as played by Tati] is the focus of amusement, not electrical doors and machines that squeeze out plastic hose."[1] Crowther noted that its style of humor "was done superbly more than twenty-five years ago by René Clair in À Nous la Liberté and afterward by Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times."[1] Variety said that although it was "somewhat long for a comedy, Jacques Tati's film has inventiveness, gags, warmth and a 'poetic' approach to satire"; they complimented the film's "expert blocking out of the characters, creative use of sound, and eschewing of all useless dialog."[2]