Customer Reviews

Mon Oncle [VHS]

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In looking at the other reviews of "Mon Oncle", it would seem that people either love or hate this movie. From my 5-star rating, you can see that I am in the former category. I fail to understand how a film can be called boring, when it is so full of life, and witty observations. Rather than feeling that it was too long, I was sorry when it was over.

In "Mon Oncle", the well-meaning, but dim-witted M. Hulot comes face to face with modern living and technology. His brother-in-law is an affluent executive with a plastics company, and owns a state-of-the-art home, full of amazing gadgets. The house is also a tasteless nightmare, devoid of warmth and comfort, with a "garden" to match. You will not soon forget the atrocious fountain, with a huge, metal fish spewing water into the air--but only to impress important guests, of course. In this concrete monstrosity, the couple are also attempting to raise a small boy, who understandably has more fun away from the place, with his uncle Hulot.

Tati is constantly contrasting old-fashioned, small-town life with urban "progress". In addition to the "house from hell", we see the huge, boring factory where Hulot's brother-in-law works, and where he tries, with hilarious lack of success, to land M. Hulot a job. Meanwhile, back at the ranch--er house--we have the outdoor party scene, with a bizarre group of co-workers and neighbours desperately trying to look important and convivial. Of course, Hulot unwittingly undermines the whole celebration, with a little help from that hideous fountain.

There are a number of scenes of children being--well--children--playing tricks on unsuspecting people. Some scene-stealing dogs are also part of the mix.

The DVD is impressive--colours are excellent--the sound naturally is mono. There is a touching introduction by Terry Jones, the well-known director and Monty Python graduate. Also included is an early short film with Tati called "School for Postmen" which is very amusing--a nice bonus.

For those people who consider "Mon Oncle" to be a comedy masterpiece, I agree completely. If you like Tati and his unforgettable creation, M. Hulot, this disc has to be in your collection.

Tati is undoubtably one of the great filmmakers of all time. And this despite the fact that he only released three films under his total control (M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY, MON ONCLE, and PLAYTIME), all available now on Criterion DVD. What is even more impressive is that, unlike the great Howard Hawks, who successfully directed movies of every genre, Tati's accomplishment was to sucessfully document the development of the modern world under the guise of three simple, light-hearted comedies. From the whimsical near-silent classic HOLIDAY, to the clash of the modern with the traditional in MON ONCLE, to the crushing approach of metal and glass over the classical world in PLAYTIME, Tati made brilliant films that, while obstensibly comedies, offer some of the most insightful commentary on the joy of life to be found in cinema. No movies I can think of are more deserving of DVD presentation. Each film is a masterpiece that warrants repeated viewings (PLAYTIME being particularily challenging).

MON ONCLE, a popular favorite, and beautifully restored here in saturated colors, is a comedy that comments on the threatened loss of the enjoyment of the simple things in life due to the demands of the modern world. Or at least those demands that have been self-inflicted. It is just as prescient today as the it must have been in 1958, maybe more so. Terry Jones' nice opening commentaries comment on Tati's carefully constructed sight-gags, but I find Tati's subtle commentaries on the modern world to be more interesting. Note, for instance, that the workers who are perpetually demolishing older buildings are encroaching towards Hulot's charming neighborhood as the film progresses.

I cannot recommend Tati's films highly enough. And for those who collect Criterion releases but are somewhat unsure of this sudden rash of releases by a relatively unknown French auteur, I say jump right in, and if you can't stand Tati's films after several viewings, e-mail me and I'll buy them from you!

P.S. The additional feature alone is worth the price for Tati fans.

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!

I suppose I am out of touch with "the 90s" in that I detest movies where most of the jokes are based on bodily functions. (Flatulence jokes just aren't funny to me.) I love Mon Oncle because it is a physical comedy - in fact, there is extremely little dialog - and yet it is not insulting to the intelligence. Jacques Tati (one of the great comedians) is M. Hulot, an enigmatic, silent man who lives a quiet, calm life. Dismayed and uncomprehending of his sister's "moderne" life, Hulot strikes up a friendship with his nephew. Some of the best scenes are when the boy leaves his sterile, plastic "hygenic" world for the more earthy but enjoyable world that Hulot occupies (it is as if a small piece of Old France is hanging on in the middle of Paris - the old butcher shops, the cobbled streets). The boy's mother cannot understand why her son would prefer "old things" to the new, modern style.

There is a lot of humor in the movie - lots of Keaton-esque sight gags when Hulot tries to deal with the modern appliances in his sister's house - but underneath the humor there is a sweetness and a yearning and a recognition that the new ways aren't always better than the old. This is a movie with humor and heart.

True, it is more slow-paced than recent comedies (which may be what the reviewer who thought it "THE MOST BORING MOVIE" was used to), but if you allow yourself to relax and appreciate the slow pace, it's a beautiful and brilliant movie.

The adjective "Zen-like" is most overused today, or else I would describe watching this movie as a "Zen-like" experience. It got into my mind and changed me. And I am not a fan of movies, there are very few I like enough to watch through once, let alone repeatedly.

As a relative newcomer to the films of Jacques Tati, I found myself pleasantly surprised upon viewing his film Mon Oncle. This film makes some scathing comments on modern living. It does so under the guise of a very entertaining comedy, much like Chaplin had done before Tati. Tati's character, M. Hulot, is an absolute riot pretty much whenever he happens to come in contact with any modern gadget or device. A very funny movie with a gorgeous transfer on this great Criterion edition. The short included from 1947 is fantastic.

Like our Australian reviewer I, too, saw this film as a kid. It was in Lexington, Va. in the early 60's and my brother and I had a habit of going to the State Theater on Saturdays for the cheap matinees - 25 cents. It was there that we saw this film for the first time and were instantly enthralled. My memory from the time is primarily the circular windows of the modern house and how the 2 heads became like pupils of 2 great eyes. This must have really stuck in my youthful mind, as it's the only thing from the movie which I remembered. Since then I've gotten my own copy and have introduced my 5 year old daughter to the film. She likes the dogs who pee during the opener - go figure - so she'll probably be as warped as her old man when she grows up. Tati is a master pantomimist and its a shame that he didn't make more films. When I watch the films as a 49 year old man I find myself wishing that I lived in that rooftop apartment in Paris and had that neighborhood to live in. I wonder if the streetsweeper will EVER get the street swept...

MON ONCLE (My Uncle) is one, indeed, the most hilarious French films that has been made. Jacques Tati shows film viewers post-war France, and its progression towards a prosperous future, which involved the nuclear family and modernization. Once again, Tati plays the bumbling Chaplinesque figure, Monsieur Hulot, who tends to get himself in a little mischief. For this installment, Hulot is at odds with his brother-in-law, Charles Arpel (Jean-Pierre Zola II) over his nephew, Gerard (Alain Becourt). Madame Arpel (Adrienne Servantie), his sister, has no qualms about her brother, but receives the gripes from Charles. It appears that Hulot spends too much time with Gerard, and may be a bad influence on the boy. Charles attempts to remedy the problem by hiring Hulot at his plastic company, and later promoting him to another position away from Gerard.

The Arpels live in the new world with all its modernist features and conveniences of a modern home of the late 1950s. Their lives are a string of daily routine -- straight and narrow environment that is meticulously organized and sanitized. Indeed, the furniture they sit and eat on resembles something that may have been owned by Ken and Barbie. The modern French landscape looks no different than their US counterparts, an automatic garage door and everyone drives and own a colorful '57-'58 Chevy (pink and green). The most obnoxious and annoying object in the film is the fish water fountain that spits out blue water that Madame Arpel turns on only when guests come by.

On the other hand, Hulot's world is the old world. He rides a motorized bicycle and lives in the familiar quaint French landscape with cobblestone streets, horse-carriage carts, and open food markets. Hulot is the friendly and considerate individual who sees the world around him, but has not quite been in-synch with the present.

The music in the film is quite significant when differentiating the two worlds. Hulot's world rings with bells and jingles with a French feel of a sleepy town, while the Arpel's world is fast-paced and on the go-go, and rocks and rolls with sounds from the west.

As an added bonus, the DVD includes the 1947 15 minute short film, L'ecole des facteurs (School For Postmen), which posseses a Buster Keaton influence in most of the scenes, especially the one where Tati passes a group of bicyclists.

Overall, MON ONCLE is a comedic film that will delight anyone. Indeed, the film has a Jerry Lewis feel of "The Bellboy" and "The Ladies' Man". If you want a laugh a minute, this film will deliver the goods.

The viewer from UK was obviously expecting either "The Naked Gun' or 'There's Something About Mary' type shenanigans. Obviously this was the last film that person should've rented then. Tati is one of the greatest comic artists of 20th century and his brand of comedy is unique and undoubtedly strange to American sensibility. He's the Tarkovsky of comedy. You have to pay close attention to his work in order to fully apreciate it. Great comedy doesn't have to be "laugh till I cry". It can be sharply made observations, or little set-pieces that are so ingenious that you can't help but smile. 'Mon Oncle' is still very funny, even when there aren't any obvious gags. Tati's deliriously designed house is a movie in itself. I personaly prefer his other masterpiece 'Playtime', but this is nearly as good.

This movie was just broadcast on the Turner Classic Movie(TCM) channel last night. I loved it! I enjoyed the music and the fact that it was a movie about, well... basically nothing! How can a movie be about nothing and yet be enjoyable? No drug plots, no sex, no bad language, just comedy. I love to laugh and that is what this movie makes you do... laugh. Had I known that I would have enjoyed it that much, I would have set my VCR to record it. This movie is definitely a keeper. Now, I'll have to buy the video. A simple and wonderful movie.

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

Mon Oncle or "My Uncle" again follows Msr. Hulot when he visits the then-modern home of his brother-in-law. There he gets into mischief with his nephew. He later inadvertently creates havoc at a rubber hose factory also. The film is second in a series of four movies three of which have been released by the Criterion Collection.

The film has many items featured that I was not aware existed at the time. These incldue an electric garage door at a residential home that has a motion detector to open the door.

The Criterion DVD also contains an introduction to the film by Terry Jones and there is also a short film, "L'école des facteurs" or "Postman School" which is also quite good.

This DVD was out of print for a while but was reissued in February 2004