M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY

Sunday, December 12th at 1:00 p.m.
and Tuesday, December 14th at 7:00 p.m.
FREE ADMISSION
**Suggested donation: $5.00**
Film introduction starts on the hour, film starts approximately 15 minutes after the hour.

BRAND NEW 35MM RESTORATION!

ESSENTIAL CINEMA is The Loft's FREE monthly series of classic art films on the big screen. See old favorites, hidden gems and exciting re-discoveries the way they were meant to be seen - with an audience and on the big screen in glorious 35 mm!

“A MASTERPIECE! Some of the funniest and loveliest slapstick imaginable..." - Dave Kehr, CHICAGO READER

“MIRACULOUS! When has a film so subtly and yet so completely captured nostalgia for past happiness?' - Roger Ebert, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

“CRITICS' PICK! This brand new restoration of Tati's ode to the hazards of leisure makes the various misadventures look more magnifique than ever. ” - David Fear, TIME OUT NEW YORK

“A film I would see every other day if I had the time... Tati can zoom in on the absurdity of life without losing his love for human beings.” - DAVID LYNCH

"It's laugh-vacation time as Jacques Tati romps through the most gloriously mad lark ever to tickle the ribs of young and old alike!"

While on holiday at a seaside resort, Monsieur Hulot – Jacques Tati’s endearing, bumbling, pipe-smoking clown – finds his presence provoking one hilarious catastrophe after another. A wildly funny satire of vacationers determined to enjoy themselves, the first entry in the popular Hulot series (a character Tati would stick with until the end of his career) includes an amazing series of brilliantly choreographed sight gags about boats, dogs, tennis, and other hazards of leisure. This unique comedy, with dialogue unimportant — although music and the totally invented sound effects are not — and the humor entirely visual, is a masterpiece of intricate, gentle slapstick. A precursor to such later Jacques Tati favorites as Mon uncle and Playtime, M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY is the perfect cinematic holiday, made even better in a newly restored 35mm film print.
A relentless tinkerer, Tati re-edited his 1953 original twice: in the early 60s, he cut out some shots and extended others, while re-mixing the sound, recording a new, re-orchestrated version of Alain Romans’ score, and adding a famous final color shot. In 1978 he shot and cut in new footage on the beach. This brand new restoration, working from the much-spliced camera negative and final track, now allows viewers to enjoy Tati’s definitive vision.