Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Mon Oncle


111 minutes is a long time to watch people walking into lampposts and Mon Oncle joins the canon of films that has missed the lessons of the two-reeler.

It makes the mistake of having too many environments. They are not wholly convincing and they lead to a mishmash of styles and ideas that, in a film without a plot, helps to produce a feeling of disengagement.

To watch Mon Oncle and to see slapstick comedy accompanied by sleek, multi-coloured Cadillacs is a strange experience. It makes one yearn for monochrome and the sound of a backfiring jalopy, or just any environment that is more suitable for foot-in-bucket humour.

Hire Hulot’s Holiday instead. It’s simple, it’s short, there is a continuity of environment and, far more importantly, it’s funny.

If you have already seen it, don’t besmirch your opinion of Jacques Tati by watching this protracted disappointment.

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