The English-language version of Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot begins with a warning: “Don’t look for a plot, for a holiday is meant purely for fun.”
The film does not feature a plot in the traditional sense of a novel or short story, but presents recurring themes, episodes, and characters that bear more of a resemblance to poetic structure. The film is also noted for Tati’s use of wide-angle cinematic framing, in which a motionless camera captures the action without following the actors or cutting to close ups that emphasize the jokes and actors’ reactions.
Pictures: on set photography from Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953) Jacques Tati and Nathalie Pascaud (stage name)
