| Subcategories | Condition (condition-type) |
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| ![Les Vacances De M.Hulot [1953] - Mr Hulot's Holiday](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZPN3KA9PL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Jacques Tati
Actors: Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud, Micheline Rolla, Valentine Camax, Louis Perrault
Studio: Bfi Video
Category: Video
List Price: £12.99
Buy Used: £11.00
You Save: £1.99 (15%)
Used (4) from £11.00
Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 2584
Format: Black White, Pal, Subtitled
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: Universal, suitable for all
Media: VHS Tape
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 84 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 4.7 x 1.2
EAN: 5022655000490
ASIN: B00004CJKE
Theatrical Release Date: June 16, 1954
Release Date: November 29, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 28
 Poor quality copy September 12, 2007
A. B. Brooke-smith (Cheshire UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Our enjoyment was spoilt because the playback quality of the DVD was very poor - images jerked and sometime stopped completely. I suggest that you scrap the particular copy which you sent to us. br /Alan Brooke-Smith
 Timeless never-forgotten comedy. August 29, 2007
Mr. Graeme M. Young (Nottinghamshire, U.K.)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I first saw M.Hulot's Holiday in 1954 in Johannesburg, with a friend, and we laughed like a couple of lunatics all the way home to Hillbrow and halfway through the night. To see it again whenever I wish is a great delight and the film still must be one of the funniest and cleverest ever made anywhere. The portrayal of human nature is superb, such keen observation, and a memorable sound-track. That tune haunts one for weeks. br /To reveal the contents would be to spoil the surprise for the first-time viewer, but this film is a MUST for the DVD collection.
 M. Hulot on vacation: A beautiful, gentle film by Jacques Tati July 9, 2007
C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Chaos follows Monsieur Hulot like tin cans tied to your ankle. He's a lanky, awkward, well-intentioned innocent to whom things just naturally happen, and to whom things happen to those around him. Hulot is the creation of Jacques Tati, a genius of film if there ever was one. Tati creates movies of endless sight gags, but that term is too coarse to describe what Tati does. With Hulot and those he encounters, things are never what they seem. The usual and the commonplace grow into sources of humor that sometimes are quick and sometimes are carefully nurtured. What makes discussing Tati difficult, at least for me, is that the more I try to describe what he does, the more mundane it seems. I'll show you. A small child gives some money to an ice cream vendor and receives two cones. The child then carefully climbs the too-steep stairs to the entrance of a small hotel, carefully, carefully checking at each step to be sure he's got the cones upright so the ice cream won't fall off. The scene is funny in a good-natured way because of the child's intensity. Or Hulot encounters a kayak on the beach, sits down in it and notices a pot of paint next to him. He picks up the brush and starts daubing. The waves come in, the pot drifts out, then drifts back in time for Hulot, without looking, to get more paint on the brush. The pot drifts out again on the next wave, but then drifts back on the other side of the kayak. Sounds dull to me, but Tati turns it into an exquisite moment of good intentions, mystifying discovery and immaculate timing. br / br /With M. Hulot's Holiday, Monsieur Hulot arrives at the small Hotel de la Plage in a French oceanside resort town. He's taking his annual vacation and the hotel is filled with other guests. From then until Hulot and the guests check out at end of their stay, we observe one sight gag after another slowly building and popping until we know who all these people are. There's the young boy whose father is always on the phone to a stockbroker, or the waiter who is perpetually resentful, or the young woman who dances with Hulot, or the elderly couple who take strolls, where she finds beautiful discoveries in the grass and he, without her seeing, quickly discards them. There are no close-ups, just medium shots as if we were there, too, watching what's going on. Dogs, cars, tires, horses, magnifying glasses, ping pong balls all have their moments. There are probably no more than a couple dozen lines of dialogue. One thing after another happens, and especially to Hulot...Hulot on the tennis courts...Hulot going riding...Hulot in the drawing room...Hulot at the funeral...Hulot with the fireworks. It's hard not to watch this movie without a smile on your face. br / br /We realize that for all his good intentions, Hulot doesn't really fit in with this petit bourgeois group of vacationers. Yet as many funny frustrations and misunderstandings happen to these people as happen to Hulot. By the end of the movie we know most of the guests almost as well as we know Hulot. We also find ourselves admiring Hulot's indomitable innocence and good will. I felt a little sad and poignant at the close of the film. br / br /For those unfamiliar with Tati and his few films, this is a good one to start with; so would be My Uncle. Tati himself was not as fortunate as his creation. His meticulous approach meant years would pass between films. My Uncle didn't appear until 1958. Nine years went by before Playtime was released. Playtime was horrendously expensive and made little money. Tati was forced into bankruptcy. In order finance Traffic (1971), he put up as collateral the rights to all his previous films. Traffic failed and Tati lost control of his life's work. br / br /If you have an all-region DVD player, you might consider tracking down the Region 1 Criterion DVD. It looks just fine and includes several extras, including an introduction by Terry Jones and a short from the Thirties which starred Tati. M. Hulot's Holiday, sometimes listed as Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, is a wonderful, gentle, beautiful movie. I highly recommend it.
Divine Comedy April 4, 2007
Four Violets (Hertford UK)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This came out in 1953. Amazing that it took until now for me to know it existed. Forget about it being in French and black and white, it's just sublime comedy, most of it silent. How did everyone making it manage to keep a straight face? br /Mr Hulot bumbles his way through his holiday leaving havoc and a sense of nostalgia for gentler times in his wake. My favourite scenes are the one where he catches a tiger skin rug in his shoe and whisks it around behind him as he walks; and where he arrives exhausted in the mountain hut only to slowly topple backwards through the door and disappear from view, borne down by the weight of his massive rucksack. Pain in stomach and crying from laughter, a resounding five stars.
Wonderfully French and totally International! February 19, 2007
D. Fishwick (Preston, Lancs)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I first saw this film in the '50s at my school film club. It has never failed to make me laugh, with it's beautifully timed (and timeless) set pieces, Tati was one of the best film performers who never quite got the international recognition that his films deserved. Buy this and watch it with your kids - they'll love it!
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