Kinlochleven
Strontian
Fort Augustus
Dores
Culloden
Cawdor
Nairn
M. Hulot's Holiday

Jacques Tati, France, 1953, 84 mins, Cert U

Screening at: Cawdor, Thur 6th August 10am   |   Nairn, Sun 9th August 11am

Still from the movieThere’s so much to love about this movie. The seaside town setting feels so real, just like Nairn. Actor-director Jacques Tati is adorable – so polite and good natured. And yet, somehow, the very fact that’s he’s alive and on holiday, and that he walks into a hotel lobby, means that things are going to go wrong. Look out world, here he comes.

Anybody who has tripped when they’re trying to look sophisticated will see themselves in Monsieur Hulot. Watch this movie and you’ll remember the hotel, the funeral, the rug, the kayak, the paints, the lobby, the waiter, the old couple, the ice cream, the finger on the halterneck of the pretty girl while dancing.. Master director Tati avoids close-ups; his comedy is all about his lanky frame. A critic once said that he’s a “creature of silhouettes”.

There are lovely Scottish connections: After Tati went to Edinburgh and saw its famous military tattoo, he sent an postcard saying “Tattoo, Tata, Tati”. The great French animator Sylvain Chomet is making a feature film based on Tati’s screenplay The Illusionist. It’s being animated in Edinburgh and some of it is set on Mull.

Though this is a French film, there’s hardly any dialogue and few subtitles, so kids of all ages can enter the Tati world!

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