Les vacances de M. Hulot

Mr Hulot is simply out to enjoy himself on his holidays, but he unwittingly wreaks havoc with his clumsiness, depriving the other hotel guests of their rest and relaxation. As one catastrophe is followed by the next, he manages to end his holiday on a sensational note.

Mr Hulot’s Holiday was Jacques Tati’s first film to feature the iconic character Monsieur Hulot, played by himself. The pipe-smoking Hulot in his raincoat was the ideal vehicle for Tati’s gentle satire. Hulot stumbles through the complexities of human existence, holding up a mirror to polite society. With his tall stature and lumbering gait, Hulot made a regular appearance in Tati’s films and grew into an icon of French cinema.

Restoration

Tati kept working on the film, re-editing some scenes, especially the score, adding new scenes well into the 1970s. The entire film was restored in 2019, based on several versions and the original camera negative. The new restored version has preserved Tati’s changes, but the grey tones appear as they were in 1953, the image has been stabilized and the all-important sound carefully polished.