'Mon Oncle', A Jacques Tati Film Quiz

Answer: Monsieur Hulot

Jacques Tati's lovable but somewhat eccentric M Hulot was the central character in four of his films, beginning with the inventive and very funny 'Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot' in 1953. The other M Hulot films were 'Playtime' (1967) and 'Trafic' (1971).

Jacques Tati was born Jacques Tatischeff in Yvelines, France, in 1907 and died in Paris in 1982. Beginning his career in music-hall and cabaret, he later found his true vocation in comedy, acting and directing. He directed and acted in three short and six full-length films, M Hulot being his most famous character.

Answer: Paris

'Mon Oncle' is set in post-war Paris, in a period when many areas were undergoing great modernisation. It is in one such area that M Hulot's sister, Mme Arpel, lives with her husband and young son, with a plethora of gadgets at her fingertips. M Hulot, on the other hand, lives several floors up on the top floor of a large, ramshackle house in the old part of Paris.

The main premise of the film revolves around the contrast between the easy-going M Hulot and his ambitious, materialistic sister and her pompous businessman husband.

Answer: Ultra-modern

Set in the mid-late 1950s, the Villa Arpel is in an expensive and fashionable new development. The obsessively houseproud Mme Arpel has persuaded her husband to have their new home equipped with every conceivable gadget including a bouncing kettle, a gadget to spray gravy onto food and a cooker which can best be described as futuristic, even even by today's standards, and with which even she has trouble.

A greater contrast with her whimsically unsophisticated brother could not be imagined.

Answer: Gérard

M Hulot's nephew Gérard (played by Alain Bécourt) is the son of M Hulot's sister and her husband. He lives with his parents at the Villa Arpel. Whilst M and Mme Arpel live in what they perceive to be their own perfect and well-ordered world, this lifestyle doesn't appeal to Gérard, who is happiest when spending time with his uncle or playing with his friends. His relationship with his lovable but unworldly uncle, so different from his parents, is very special to him.

Answer: water fountain

The front garden of the Villa Arpel stands behind automated gates and is comprised mainly of a twisting path and sections displaying gravel and chippings in various colourful hues. Its central feature is a small pond with a water fountain in the shape of a fish standing on its tail, which - naturally - is only turned on by Mme Arpel to impress visitors. Mme Arpel's main desire is to see her brother settle down, but the afternoon party she hosts to introduce him to her single neighbour is doomed to failure, ending when he accidentally causes a leak in the hosepipe supplying water to the fountain, which leads to the guests getting drenched and beating a hasty retreat.

Answer: round

The same afternoon M Hulot has his issue with the water fountain he also has another mishap with a meticulously-trained vine growing on the side wall of the house. Creeping into the grounds at night to trim the vine to cover up the damage, he makes a noise which alerts the Arpels, who each look out of one of the round upstairs windows. The very funny sequence of the silhouettes of their heads against the lighted background in the house and they way they move make the windows look like 'eyes' and the Arpels' heads the 'pupils'.

Answer: moped

When he isn't enjoying a walk, M Hulot can be seen getting around the Paris streets on his rather shabby VéloSoleX moped, which has seen better days. He is unemployed and the highlight of his day is collecting his nephew from school. Gérard, bored by his parents' automated and materialistic world, is at his happiest in his uncle's company and his ride home on the back of his moped is the highlight of his day too.

The VéloSoleX was manufactured in Paris by the Solex company from 1946 and was hugely popular in its time, being marketed worldwide.

Answer: pipe

Jacques Tati's character M Hulot is rarely seen without his trademark overcoat, hat and pipe. The M Hulot films normally see him turned away from the camera, as if to encourage the viewer to see things through his eyes. Bearing in mind 'Mon Oncle' was made in 1958, it was very common to see someone smoking in films of that time. Many famous film characters have been smokers, including of course Sherlock Holmes with his pipe and Hercule Poirot with his cheroots.

Answer: Best Foreign Language Film

'Mon Oncle' won several prestigious awards including the 1958 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The 1958 Oscars were dominated by Vincente Minnelli's 'Gigi' which won a total of nine Awards, a record at the time. The Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars were won that year by David Niven for 'Separate Tables' and Susan Hayward for 'I Want to Live!'.

Answer: dogs

The film opens and ends with a pack of stray dogs competing for food scraps among the rubbish and exploring the Parisian streets in both the old and the new quarters, and they make several appearances throughout the film. The Arpels' dog, a dachshund, wearing its tartan jacket, enjoys joining the strays in their adventures, mimicking M Hulot's and Gérard's wishes to escape the confines of the ultra-modern world.

Jacques Tati engaged the dogs from the local dog pound and never trained them, just letting them run where they wished, which added to the natural effect. After filming was over, rather than return them to the pound, he placed an advertisement describing them as 'film stars' and found them all good, loving homes. A happy ending indeed!