Soigne ton Gauche
René Clément
1936 | 13 min | B/W | DCP  

Soigne ton Gauche focuses on the training of a boxer, whose programme suffers considerable upheaval when he is joined in the ring by the ingenu Roger, played in inimitable style by Tati and bearing many traits of what would later become Hulot character.  

Mon Oncle
Jacques Tati
1958 | 111 min | Colour | DCP  

Jacques Tati's multi-award-winning third feature, Mon Oncle – a satirical assault on the twin targets of efficiency and the modern world – confirmed his reputation as the foremost comic artist of his day. Tati's second outing as the accident-prone Monsieur Hulot takes him to Paris where the aggressively high-tech lifestyle of his relatives, the Arpels, is contrasted with his old-fashioned ways in a scruffy part of town. Young Gérard Arpel is very fond of his gauche uncle but his disapproving parents resolve to get Hulot a job or a wife. The disastrous outcome is a masterpiece of design and symmetry and of technically brilliant gags. The heart-warming ending is true to Tati's vision of the modern world as a confusing place that is ultimately full of charm and humanity.  

Part of our Jacques Tati retrospective