Mon Oncle: Détails, Détails, Détails!

My first impression watching this film was pure delight. It had been awhile since I had seen an older french film. It is interesting to note this film was made on the brink of the birth of the New Wave. Anyways, I was surprised to find out that my classmates did not enjoy the film. After hearing some of their complaints I can understand, but I still disagree.


The first concern of my classmates was that the film was too long. I can understand this, but I remained interested for the length of the film. The part that bothered me was the ending. The father and son just "reconciled" immediately. It felt like a let down especially when the entire, and arguably long film had to lead up to this moment. Surprisingly no one mentioned that in class. 


I really admire Tati's attention to detail. He does get bogged down in the details, but it does add to the charm of his film. There are examples of where this would go wrong in a film. The Thin Red Line sticks out as the most obvious example of a director being very detail oriented and methodical. I can cite examples from other movies where I wish they had paid more attention to detail. Martin Scorcese's films are to be noted. I would like to make clear that I respect martin Scorcese and absolutely regard his films as art. However, there are some scenes in Goodfellas where Big Paulie is smoking and there is a cut in the film. The cigar is not in his mouth or it is "less" smoked than a second before. This is also true of drinks. In other director's films the level of drink will change within seconds. I find that these inconsistencies take me out of the reality of the film. Tati's attention to detail made his film more enjoyable and hilarious. It also insured that his film is pure art. He always kept true to his character's little ticks. The mother with the fish fountain, having the trimming of the tree paying off, the garage door. It was all believable. This attention to detail sucked the audience into this reality. 


The theme of this film is the transformation of old an new France. This town seems to be stuck in-between old world charm and cold modernity (even the impracticality of the new). This theme was presented in a light hearted way and with an artistic set design to contrast the two areas. Also the most unique way this was presented was with minimal dialogue. Most people think of dialogue to be the backbone of a film. However, this film removed the importance of speech and focused on actions and the environment. Most of the time you just see the Oncle doing things and screwing them up. He barely has any lines in the entire film. The boy also has very few lines, but the audience also witnesses the boy between these two worlds. The dialogue with the parents is minimal. We just see how they act in their environment.


Mon Oncle really provided a notable theme in a very unique method. It was almost a silent film made in a booming age of modernity. Perhaps this was Tati's intention.