Plot
Five years after his first appearance, Jacques Tati's M. Hulot returns with Mon Oncle, a film set along the dividing line between Paris' past and its future. Aligned (as is the film) with the former, Hulot lives in a colorful, overpopulated Parisian neighborhood and, lacking employment, spends his days waiting to pick up his adoring nephew from school, and subsequently escorting him to his parents' ultra-modern house. Filled with gadgets, some turned on only to impress the neighbors, the house seems designed specifically to frustrate Hulot, who unwittingly disrupts its operations at every opportunity. Concerned about his future, Hulot's relatives attempt to find him gainful employment and pair him off with a neighbor, with little success on either front. The nearly dialogue-free film is less concerned with the family's attempts as they relate to an overall plot, and more interested in how they play into its overall scheme of contrasts and allow for Tati's unmistakable sight-and-sound gag set pieces.
MPAA Rating:
Not Yet Rated
Theatrical Release Date:
10/03/1958
DVD Release Date:
01/06/2004
Themes:
Eccentric Families,Nothing Goes Right,Fish Out of Water
Tone:
Humorous,Light,Witty,Deadpan,Satirical
Keywords:
family,gadgets,home,lifestyle,man-vs-machine,modernity,nephew,parent,rampage,technology,unemployment,uninvited-guest
Country of Origin:
Italy (10-01-1958)