Mr. Hulot's Holiday: Mr. Bean's Predecessor

Released in 1953.

Mr. Hulot's Holiday (originally Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot) directed by Jacques Tati is a lighthearted gimmicky French film about the quirky Mr. Hulot. Without a plot, the film might seem somewhat dry to some. But for others – like Director Terry Jones of Monty Python & The Holy Grail – it's a classic comedy. For Rowan Atkinson, Mr. Hulot's character served as inspiration for his Mr. Bean alter-ego in his 2007 English remake: Mr. Bean's Holiday.

During a DVD exclusive introduction, Jones exclaims that Tati’s film was one of the first to bring together comedy and beauty. He cites three reasons to support his opinion. 

Firstly, Jones praises the film’s black & white cinematography and composition saying that “the atmospheric postcards allow us to soak up the atmosphere of this beautiful vacation.” Shot on the coast South of France at a beach resort, Tati has crafted an ideal vacation spot in a fashion befitting Norman Rockwell.

Secondly, he says, that Taiti’s mastery over comedic elements allows him to create hilarious visual puns. Jones says that, in comedy, the main idea is to join two separate ideas into one to get a laugh. 

Thirdly, Jones believes that Taiti is attempting to look towards the future with his use of jazz music and belief in the youth. He says that his third point is “something that doesn’t happen in his later films.”