Movies
Noisy and grating. The direction is unique, which is laudable, but the soundtrack is horrible and while a lot is happening, none of it is very funny. The shallow tech doom commentary embedded in the film only makes things worse.
Post-silent era slapstick. I don't think I'm going to become a big Tati fan really. The characters are slightly annoying, the comedy is stale and even though I can appreciate the way Tati plays with sound, the effect is pretty grating. It's not a very unpleasant film, but it's quite repetitive and it feels longer than it truly is.
Tati has a very particular, unique and distinctive sense of humor. His films exist in a universe of their own, one that is explicitly comical, just a little tragic and very French. You can read that as extreme praise if you which, I freely admit it could've been just that. The problem is that I just don't find it funny. Gérard is a young boy whose parents are rich and live in a futuristic mansion. It sounds like a great life, but Gérard is bored and prefers to hang around with his favorite uncle Hulot. Gérard's mom isn't too taken with her brother's lifestyle and tries to hook him up with her rich neighbor. Tati plays with pacing, sound, adds many visuals gag and, doesn't fear a little slapstick, but none of it really works. The comedy feels predictable, flat, outdated and, regardless Tati's attempts to diversify, one-note. The soundtrack in particular is grating and the runtime makes it truly unbearable at times. A brave attempt by Tati, but it's not for me.Read all