In Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle, the sequel to Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, we meet the Arpels, who are scheduled, gadget-happy, ultramodern technology-obsessed in a classical effort to keep themselves ahead of les Joneses. Upwardly mobile doesn't even begin to describe them. Madame Arpel is so obsessed in keeping everything dust free, that at one point in the movie, she brushes her husband's suit, briefcase, and hat as he is walking to his car. She even polishes the car door handle after he gets inside. She waves after the departing car, a cloud of dust issuing from her dustrag.
In contrast, Madame Arpel's brother, the tall and gangly Monsieur Hulot (played by Jacques Tati), lives in a village square area where humanity is abuzz. There's the street sweeper, who never gets done because someone's always striking up a conversation with him. And there's a girl, not yet a woman, who seems to have a crush on Monsieur Hulot. Chez Margot, the cafe there, seems to be a haven, where someone says, "Come on in, have a drink and a chat" and people come out feeling wonderful.
The tall, gangling Hulot is a bumbler, unintentionedly so, but he's a nice guy. He gives candy to the girl standing at the door of his apartment building, he goes in for drinks at the pub, he picks up his young nephew Gerard from school and indulgently lets him play games that gets him dirty or in trouble if he were to get caught. Hulot is clearly uncomfortable being at his sister and brother-in-law's house.
Gerard, to the chagrin of his father, enjoys being with his uncle because he is allowed to be free, unshackled from his parents' lifeless, repressive, antiseptic, technological household. Once with his uncle, he plays pranks on people with the other kids, and enjoys crullers with sugar and jam from the local vendor.
This is clearly a struggle between two values: the technological progressives and the romantic conservatives. The contrast between the cold, antiseptic, technologically advanced home of the Arpels, and the lively simplicity of Monsieur Hulot's neighborhood. But it's also one of transition and change, of the change France underwent post-industrial change after the war. Gerard undergoes change, as does the girl who likes Hulot.
There is a party scene that demonstrates how chaos in an ordered system can quickly cause that system to degenerate. At the party, Arpel decides to give his brother-in-law a chance at the plastic factory, which is probably not the best career decision a supervisor could make.
Mon Oncle is also full of sight and sound gags, (hey, it's a comedy after all) such as the funny gargling fish fountain and the click-clack of the factory floor secretary and the swinging motion of her body. Other people laugh in funny ways, such as Madame Pichard, the wife of Arpel's plant manager. She seems a silly goose but at least she seems fun. And then there's the idyllic jazz score of piano and accordion, which permeates throughout the movie.
What can I say? A tried and truly enjoyable classic. Jacques Tati clearly favoured the old-fashioned village life as opposed to the concrete, steel, and plastic jungle. To conclude, Mr. Arpel says at one point that it's time for his brother-in-law to stop dreaming and get to work. Well, keep on dreaming, Monsieur Hulot and be yourself!
