Friday evening, the lovely Carolyn and I went to see a double-feature of two Jacques Tati movies I hadn't seen in a decade or three: Les Vacances de M. Hulot from 1953 and Mon Oncle from 1959. Or if you want to get all American about it, Mr. Hulot's Holiday and My Uncle. Tati wrote, directed and appeared in just about a handful of movies but they had an enormous impact on filmmakers everywhere and humorists of all kinds. Pantomimists especially credit Tati in the same breath that they mention Marcel Marceau and I suspect of the two, Tati — though not a strict mime — has had the greater influence.
It's sometimes educational to revisit movies. I recalled liking My Uncle and being a bit disappointed in Mr. Hulot's Holiday…but last night, it was the other way around. Maybe next time, they'll switch back. In both though, Tati constructs this marvelous world where the silliest sight gags seem credible and where people become funny just for the way they walk or if standing still, for their postures. He is the most interesting inhabitant of this world so it harmed My Uncle, at least for me, that so much of it is not about him. It's about this slightly-dysfunctional family that resides in this somewhat-dysfunctional modern, automated home where the gadgetry is impressive but often does not work. Neither does the father's relationship with his son, who prefers the company of his unemployed uncle…the role Tati plays. It's a fine film (it won every possible award including the Oscar for Best Foreign Film) but it's not as tightly paced as Mr. Hulot's Holiday…and I think that matters more now than it did when I first saw these pictures.
We saw them at…well, I'm not entirely sure of its current name. I've never been sure of its name but it's on Fairfax, just south of Melrose. When I went there in the sixties, it was called the Silent Movie Theater in ads and that was its most common name but on the front where the name of the theater usually would be, it said "Old Time Movies" and what little advertising there was for it just called it The Movie. I wrote about that place and its sad demise in this article.
It's changed hands at least twice since that piece was written. Today, it's the venue for a group called The Cinefamily and people sometimes refer to the building by that name or they call it The Silent Movie Theater or even The Cinefamily @ The Silent Movie Theater. One problem with the Silent Movie Theater name is that they now run talkies from time to time. By any handle, it's a quaint, friendly place to watch films with a spacious seating arrangement. They took out some seats and installed little tables here and there so you have a place to rest your popcorn box and beverage. The folks who operate it seem to really care about presenting movies that should be exhibited somewhere and not viewable only on DVD or cable. In October, they're running mostly scary films and if you're local, you'd do well to keep an eye on their calendar. Where else can you see a new 35mm print of two great Tati movies…projected on a screen and enjoyed with an appreciative audience?