No. 30 (2021) THE MAN IN THE HAT. MAY 1st.

 

Film No. 30 (2021)  May 1st.  11:00 AM  Cinema 1 LUNA,  Leederville. 

"And all the little things, the smallest things remind me of you" (Lyrics of the very memorable song played throughout. Song sung by Mathilda Homer).

I'm imagining the French Tourism Commission (if there is such a thing) advertising expressions of interest for a film maker to create a feature film, displaying creative ideas, but with a focus on showing off rural France in as many different and varied locations as possible. And so The Man In The Hat was created. It's an easy watch but don't be in the mood for a meaty story about human endeavour and intrigue based on true events! 

For those of us who are familiar with the genius of Jacques Tati, France's most gifted visual comic director, there are shades here. Mix the visual antics with a Bear of a Man (Ciaran Hinds) traveling through rural France in search of who knows what and you have a very sweet film. It's a film with hardly a bad word to say about anything. The opening scenes might suggest otherwise but by film's end, nice overrides everything gone before.

Co Directors Davidson and Warbeck are elderly statesmen of British story telling, mainly T.V., using travel as a platform. Steven Fry and Michael Palin are typical front men for their work; the BBC their employer. With Warbeck's composing skills and Davidson's passion for visual slapstick they have devised a work that's been on their minds for a while. Maybe COVID times freed them up to chase a dream similar to the dream Hinds pursues while wearing a hat.

The Man In The Hat is a meditation piece. If you love your cinema,(and let me tell you this needs to be seen on the big screen) and you just want to escape the world for 90 minutes trapping all that is good in the world, then don't miss this film about a big fella wandering about the countryside in his little car while wearing a hat. Lots of people are falling in love with TMITH. 9GUMS.