Mon Oncle
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati
Jean-pierre Zola
Adrienne Servantie
Alain Becourt
Lucien Fregis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A Frenchman tries to stave off the modernization and the new-fangled technological gadgets of society and grows at odds with his brother-in-law whose suburban house is filled with every concievable new appliance. Soon, the former realizes he can't stay living the old-fashioned way forever and his first dabblings with the machines are clumsy ones.
Director
Jacques Tati
Cast
Jacques Tati
Jean-pierre Zola
Adrienne Servantie
Alain Becourt
Lucien Fregis
Betty Schneider
Yvonne Arnaud
Dominique Marie
J F Martial
Andre Dino
Claude Badolle
Nicolas Bataille
Regis Fontenay
Adelaide Danielli
Denise Péronne
Michel Goyot
Dominique Derly
Max Martel
Francomme
Claire Rocca
Jean-claude Remoleux
Rene Lord
Nicole Regnault
Loriot
Jean Meyet
Suzanne Franck
Saint-maur Citizens
Crew
Frank Barcellini
Suzanne Baron
Jean Bourgoin
Jean Bourgoin
Jacques Carrere
Louis Dolivet
Pierre Etaix
Jacques Legrange
Henri Marquet
Bernard Maurice
Alain Romans
Henri Schmitt
Jacques Tati
Alain Terounne
Warren Trabant
Warren Trabant
Videos
Movie Clip
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Technical Specs
Articles
Mon Oncle
Tati honed his comic skills in French music hall and cabaret, as a mime performer. Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953) introduced Tati's gangling, umbrella-toting alter ego. Tati was so meticulous that each of his films took several years to prepare, shoot and edit; he directed only six features. His films have been called "pure cinema," emphasizing visual humor and sound effects, with very little dialogue. And Hulot has been compared to the creations of the great silent comedians, particularly Chaplin's Little Tramp, and the acrobatic characters of Buster Keaton, Tati's idol. Mon Oncle, in fact, has been dubbed "Tati's own Modern Times."
In accepting his Oscar® for Mon Oncle, Tati paid tribute to the silent film comedians whom he so admired. "If Hollywood had not done so many funny pictures, I would not be here tonight. For all those great comedians, I am not the uncle, but the nephew." In fact, the highlight of Tati's trip to Hollywood was not the Academy Awards® ceremony, but a visit he paid afterwards to Mack Sennett, the producer of many of those silent comedies. Sennett invited Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton to meet Tati, and the French comedian was thrilled when Keaton expressed his admiration "that I hadn't let myself be made a prisoner of the talking film. I'd simply improved on silent techniques."
Sadly, it was Tati's scrupulous attention to planning and preparation, and the resulting long gaps between films, along with his problems in raising funds that ended his career. His next two films, Playtime (1967) and the following one, Traffic (1971), both failed to earn back their high costs, and Tati was ruined financially. He directed only one more film before his death in 1982. But the legacy he left has earned him a place in the pantheon of the great film comedians.
Producer: Fred Orain, Jacques Tati
Director: Jacques Tati
Screenplay: Jean L'Hote, Jacques Lagrange, Jacques Tati
Production Design: Henri Schmitt
Cinematography: Jean Bourgoin
Costume Design: Jacques Cottin
Film Editing: Suzanne Baron
Original Music: Franck Barcellinni, Alain Romans
Cast: Jean-Pierre Zola (M. Arpel), Jacques Tati (M. Hulot), Adrienne Servantie (Mme. Arpel), Lucien Frégis (M. Pichard), Betty Schneider (Betty, Landlord's Daughter) C-117m.
by Margarita Landazari
Mon Oncle
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Voted Best Foreign Film by the 1958 New York Film Critics Association.
Voted One of the Year's Five Best Foreign Films by the 1958 National Board of Review.
Voted One of the Year's Ten Best Films by the 1958 New York Times Film Critics.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.
Released in United States 2010
Released in United States May 1958
Released in United States November 1995
Released in United States on Video March 1986
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1958
Re-released in United States on Video August 31, 1994
Premiered at Cannes Film Festival May, 1958.
Shown at Sarasota French Film Festival November 15-19, 1995.
Formerly distributed by Orion Home Video.
Formerly distributed by Nelson Entertainment.
Released in United States 2010 (Guest Artistic Director)
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1958
Released in United States on Video March 1986
Released in United States May 1958 (Premiered at Cannes Film Festival May, 1958.)
Re-released in United States on Video August 31, 1994
Released in United States November 1995 (Shown at Sarasota French Film Festival November 15-19, 1995.)