Sunday, September 8, 2:00 p.m. | MON ONCLE finds Jacques Tati’s Hulot character living in what David Bordwell called “a ramshackle apartment building,” in contrast to his sister and brother-in-law’s “ultramodern house full of high-tech gadgets.” Tati accentuates these differences in his production design (Wes Anderson avant la lettre), color palette, musical score, and sound effects. This late 1950s satire of petit-bourgeois values feels surprisingly predictive of our own era’s craze for mid-century design and ubiquitous electronica. Presented in the "English-language" version (MON ONCLE is mostly silent) that Tati shot simultaneously with the French version. (Bruce Jenkins, Department Chair, Film, Video, New Media, and Animation, Department Chair, School of the Art Institute of Chicago)

Awards & Nominations

Winner - Best Foreign Language Film, Academy Awards
Winner - Special Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee - Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival

Remembering David Bordwell: David Bordwell (1947–2024), a beloved film scholar, passed away earlier this year at the age of 76. Bordwell’s impact and legacy is widespread: film curators and critics, cinephiles and casual viewers have been shaped, educated, and invigorated by Bordwell’s perspectives. With this series, we invited friends and colleagues of Bordwell’s to select a film that was special to him, in the hopes that, through these titles, we can pay tribute to his enthusiasm for cinema through our own. Read more

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu