Tati’s breakthrough film and the first to feature Monsieur Hulot, this gentle masterpiece drops our hero into a sleepy coastal resort, where sunbathing, tennis matches and social niceties spiral into low-key chaos. Light on plot but rich in character and rhythm, it’s a warm and wistful comedy that launched Tati to international acclaim.

To kick off the summer, we’re screening three of Jacques Tati’s most iconic films in celebration of one of cinema’s great comic auteurs.

With his background in mime and music hall, Tati elevated physical comedy to an art form. Across these films, his pipe-smoking, umbrella-toting alter ego Monsieur Hulot bumbles his way through postwar France, awkwardly navigating seaside resorts, gadget-filled kitchens, and the glass-and-steel labyrinths of modern life. But these aren’t just slapstick romps — they’re precise, painterly works of cinematic architecture, full of quiet satire and densely choreographed visual gags.

“When you watch his films, you realise how much he know about – and loved – human nature, and it can only be an inspiration to do the same.” David Lynch