The Cinematheque

“I want children to have fun at the cinema as I did at the circus when I was little … One must create a truly festive climate.”

Jacques Tati

A marvellous satire in the spirit of Chaplin’s Modern Times, Jacques Tati’s comedy classic was originally shot in both French and English versions, each edited in slightly different ways. Mon oncle, winner of the Jury Special Prize at Cannes and the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film, is the version most know. My Uncle, screening here, is nine minutes shorter, and was mostly forgotten until it was rediscovered in Tati’s archives in 2004 and restored. There’s actually little spoken dialogue in either version of this ingenious, visually inventive work. Made with the painstaking perfectionism for which the director is legendary, My Uncle has Tati’s accident-prone Monsieur Hulot tangling with modern life while visiting the minimalist, modernist home of his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. The family’s haute abode is filled with hilarious labour-saving gizmos and gadgets, allowing Tati some of his best gags.

“Slapstick heaven.”

Anthony Lane, The New Yorker