Monsieur Hulot goes on a holiday to a seaside resort, but accidents and misunderstandings follow him wherever he goes. The peace and quiet of the hotel guests don’t last very long with Hulot around, because although his actions are in good faith, they always turn out catastrophically for everybody.

While the holidaymakers invade the Hôtel de la Plage, Hulot, fanciful and offbeat, turns up in his spluttering Salmson and, through his joyful clumsiness, he keeps disturbing the quietude of the city dwellers on holiday. In canoe, on horseback, in the beach, in the tennis court, at the hotel’s restaurant, in a cemetery or during a picnic, Hulot links gags and disasters all together. His own presence denounces the conventional and the seriousness. His elegant upstream crossing and a gallery of unforgettable portraits compose from this summer time in the 1950s a masterpiece of poetic burlesque.

Alors que les vacanciers envahissent l’Hôtel de la Plage, Hulot, fantaisiste et décalé, débarque dans sa Salmson pétaradante et ne va cesser par ses joyeuses maladresses de perturber la quiétude des citadins en villégiature. En canoë, à cheval, sur la plage, au tennis, au restaurant de l’hôtel, dans un cimetière ou en pique-nique, Hulot enchaîne gags et catastrophes. Sa seule présence dénonce le conventionnel et l’esprit de sérieux. Son élégante traversée à contre-courant et une galerie de portraits inoubliable font de ce moment d’été des années 50 un chef-d’œuvre du burlesque poétique.

Restored copy