My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)
Rene Clair takes a simple premise, a man trying to replace a straw hat on his wedding day, and stretches it to nearly 2 hours. The hat was eaten by his horse on the way to the wedding. It belongs to the mistress of an Army officer, who were caught together by the side of the road. The officer follows him home and demands a replacement hat, not just any hat but the exact same style. This sets in motion the comedy of errors and manners, as the groom must keep the wedding party in the dark while searching for a hat. It's well done, it's clever, it might even be called "delightful", but it is too long, and dare I say too French, in the same way that Tati is "too French". You either get it or you don't, and like most comedy a lot of it depends on the culture in which it is set.
No comments:
Post a Comment