Courtesy of Chandler Center for the Arts
Award-winning “Mon Oncle” to be screened at Chandler.
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. — RANDOLPH — The 2015-16 season of the Chandler Film Society continues on Sunday, Nov. 15 with “Mon Oncle,” Jacques Tati’s vision of a too-quickly-modernizing Paris and his fears of what it might become.
While serious themes are developed, the comedy comes in the contrasts between 9-year-old Gérard Arpel’s beloved ‘oncle’ (uncle), Monsieur Hulot (played by Tati himself), and Gérard’s parents, who live in an ultra-modern apartment and are extremely class- and consumption-conscious. Hulot, a man fond of the slower pace of less modern life, seems old-fashioned to the society climbing Arpels, who live in a world where what you have is who you are. Tati works with lighting and sound to set the moods, and much of the dialogue seems intended more as another sound versus words designed to move the plot along. Winner of 1958’s Oscar for Best Foreign Film, a Special Prize at that year’s Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Film, it was by far Tati’s most successful and critically acclaimed, capturing the uneasiness people were beginning to feel about the values of a consumer-driven society.
The film shows at 6:30 p.m. in Chandler’s Esther Mesh room, but come early for light snacks (popcorn!) and beverages, and stay for Rick Winston’s informative commentary. Tickets are $9 at the door, $5 for members and students (K-12 and VTC). Season memberships are available for $25 for an individual; $45 for a couple.
Chandler Center for the Arts is located at 71-73 Main Street, Randolph. For more info, visit chandler-arts.org.
