Review of Mon Oncle (1958) by Jessica W — 06 Feb 2009

First, let's get a few things straight:

This movie has no attractive, sexy young lead character; this movie has no major romantic plot that's steamy and complex; this movie has no huge crisis that is complicated and intense; this movie has no mega action scene, no sweeping emotional epic to knock you off your feet.

But it has so many other elements and nuances, that if you give it a real, honest chance, you won't even notice what's missing.

Each character is slightly askew, like a world of caricatures, each serving to embody a different personality type of human being. Each location has a personality, to communicate the atmosphere and mood of the people existing within it. And each sign, vehicle and object seems to have its place, whether it's to point to a small joke, or reveal a smart commentary.

This movie is surprisingly intelligent, despite its slow, meandering start (but honestly.. can you really complain about having to watch 5 minutes of cute puppies running around? I know I've seen far worse beginnings than THAT...). The motifs are oddly clear by the time the closing scenes roll around, as the characters reveal their true natures along the way, the commentaries on society and life make themselves known and the film reveals its true identity.

It has funny moments, but it's not a Comedy, so much as a pleasant and clever collection of scenes from a book. The story surely continues before and after the footage airs, but the movie still feels cautiously, precisely timed, and despite meandering and floating around the locations and in the air, the film stays grounded with very realistic, straight out of life moments that'll catch your attention. You encounter people you've met before, scenes you've lived or seen while walking by on the street... The style of the movie is very real, so that even when something is exaggerated, like the mannerisms of the characters or the surreal quality of the settings, the world feels extraordinarily real, like you've been walking around inside it the whole time.

All in all, this movie's best viewed as an adventure, rather than a film. It's fun and passes the time (and accomplishes little else with its bare bones plot), but it's worth seeing for the subtle satire, the clever and natural scenes and the very human nature of the experience. If you want to study characters and people, watch this movie.

(On a small side note... with subtitles on, it's also a great film to help study the French language. The actors speak very clearly-!).