pwnt.be

I’m having trouble finding a context where Tati’s Mon oncle would deserve the Oscar it won back in the day. I’m not saying it’s a bad movie, but it’s hardly groundbreaking. Sure, it’s been around for half a century, but, to my best knowledge, slapstick was never the highest of art forms. And that’s really what this so-called “simplicity” boils down to, if you ask me.

Granted, I’m as biased as the next guy. Personally, I just don’t like the French language. I never have and I never will. But there isn’t much talking going on in Mon oncle anyway, and even if there were, I did like Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain as well as C.R.A.Z.Y. a lot, to name but a few. So surely language isn’t the only issue.

I say Mon oncle is hardly a classic. If nothing else, it’s just another reason to mock the French. Other than that, I find the plot, if you can call it that, more suitable for a short film, a concept from which the somewhat unimaginative soundtrack would also benefit.

If I were writing this for a renowned cinema periodical, I would honor Mon oncle with 3 stars (out of 5). Unfortunately, I’m not. 6/10 it is then.