Mon Oncle

"Mr Hulot takes a precious, playful and purely premeditated look at modern times..."

1958 1h 58m FR

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 639

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Genial, bumbling Monsieur Hulot loves his top-floor apartment in a grimy corner of the city, and cannot fathom why his sister's family has moved to the suburbs. Their house is an ultra-modern nightmare, which Hulot only visits for the sake of stealing away his rambunctious young nephew. Hulot's sister, however, wants to win him over to her new way of life, and conspires to set him up with a wife and job.

“Mr Hulot takes a precious, playful and purely premeditated look at modern times...”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

HBO Max Amazon ChannelSubscription

Criterion ChannelSubscription

Cast

Jacques Tati
Monsieur Hulot
Jean-Pierre Zola
Monsieur Arpel
Adrienne Servantie
Madame Arpel
Lucien Frégis
Monsieur Pichard
Betty Schneider
Betty, Landlord's Daughter
Jean-François Martial
Walter
Dominique Marie
Neighbor
Yvonne Arnaud
Georgette, the Housekeeper

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jacques Tati
Writers: Jacques Lagrange, Jean L'Hôte, Jacques Tati
Languages: French
Countries: France, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

68 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jacques Tati, shot by Jean Bourgoin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alain Romans. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Suzanne Baron shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jacques Tati and Jean-Pierre Zola and Adrienne Servantie carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Mr Hulot takes a precious, playful and purely premeditated look at modern times...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0050706 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jacques Tati directs. Jean Bourgoin behind the camera. Alain Romans scores. Suzanne Baron cuts. Produced in France, Italy. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

168 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.
3Directed by Jacques Tati, shot by Jean Bourgoin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Alain Romans. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Suzanne Baron shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jacques Tati and Jean-Pierre Zola and Adrienne Servantie carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Mr Hulot takes a precious, playful and purely premeditated look at modern times...".
8IMDB entry: tt0050706 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 14 themes, including "factory worker", "paris, france", "parent child relationship", "city portrait".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jean Bourgoin
Original score: Alain Romans
Editing: Suzanne Baron
Production design: Henri Schmitt
Costume design: Jacques Cottin
Makeup / hair: Boris Karabanoff
Runtime: 118 min · 1h 58m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Mon Oncle (1958)

Awards

Jury Prize
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Jacques Tati

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-05-31
★ 7/10
Back in the day when it was very de rigueur to live in an home with all the mod cons we meet la famille “Arpel”. Monsieur (Jean-Pierre Zola) has a managerial job at a plastics factory and that’s keeping his slightly snobbish wife (Adrienne Servantie) in the style to which she has already become accustomed. In the nearby city lives her brother “Hulot” (Jacques Tati) whose home barely has plumbing and who is concerned that his young nephew “Gérard” (Alain Bécourt) isn’t living life to the full in his gilded cage of an home. Not unreasonably, his parents conclude that uncle might be a bit of a bad influence on their youngster so devise a cunning plan to put him to work at the factory. A risky strategy, methinks - especially as “Hulot” is very much an independent thinker who could end up wrecking the whole place! Their attack on this affable man’s personality is two pronged. They also assemble a collection of individuals for a party in their perfectly cultivated garden so that perhaps they can set him up with a suitable lady friend. Well, as you can probably imagine, “Hulot” is a fish out of water and though not deliberately rude or unpleasant, well you get the drift… With their conformity magnets definitely working against each other, will it be possible for this family to learn to live and let live? There’s a gentle comedy to this whole film but there is also an only thinly veiled critique offered on the sterilisation of society and community endangered by automated industrialisation. The impact on jobs, careers and the social structure of their town is all at risk as interpersonal skills are sacrificed at the altar of increased productivity, lower costs and a continuing supply that doesn’t stop when the whistle blows at 5pm. The humour comes from an on form Tati’s avuncular persona, but also from the really quite amiable efforts of both Servantie and Zola, with the former of the pairing determined, at all costs, to ensure her lad is way ahead of the Joneses never mind kept up with them. What is also here is just an hint of jeopardy. We really don’t know how it might end, or who might prevail, until the very last gadget in her state of the art kitchen has shown us it’s (largely entirely unnecessary) function. It’s a film that bears watching a few times as each subsequent watch reveals more worth a gander, it’s good fun and I’d like to have seen Charles Laughton have a go at the role!

Production companies