Jacques Tati Speaks About My Uncle “You know the situation. A couple, the Arpel, symbolizes the social success that magazines, like Marie-France, could recommend. He is a serious businessman, she is a perfect housewife. All is new on their premises, the house, the geometrical garden, the gravel. In the functional universe, it misses the taste of life and the waste grounds, the spirit of carelessness, school buissonnière. This spirit, which the young Arpel will discover with his uncle, Mr Hulot, the ‘failure of the family’. Mr Hulot is happy; he lives in a small district of St Maur where each one knows itself, where one goes menus services under the terms of a very simple code: kindness. The arrival of Mr Hulot in the life of Arpel –this house could be located anywhere– will cause catastrophes. Only the little boy will take the hand of his uncle, his accomplice and his friend. There is no message in my film. However, I can say that I am struck by the indifference of the modern world. What means success, comfort, progress if nobody knows anybody any more, if one removes the handmade buildings to replace them by concrete, if one lunches in windows instead of finding oneself in small restaurants where one wants to talk, if the grocer resembles pharmacy, if one changes the model of his car for the pleasure of having different red lights and new handles? (...) I think that there are two kinds of directors: those who make commercial films, and it is neces-sary some, and the others who must launch out deeply in the unknown.” Jacques Tati, Le Monde, 24.04.1958
Awards Best Film French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Best Foreign Language Film New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Foreign Language Film Oscar İspanya Sinema Yazarları Birliği Best Foreign Film Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Awards Jury Special Prize Cannes Top Male Comedy Performance Golden Laurel
Festivals 12th Festival on Wheels Profil: Terry Gilliam
