Summary
The year is 1895. Fadinard is on the way to his wedding when his horse picks up
and eats a straw hat. The owner of the hat is a married woman who, at the time,
is in the embrace of a French officer, Lieutenant Tavernier. The officer follows
Fadinard to his new home and demands that he finds a substitute hat so that his
mistress can return home to her husband without arousing suspicion. Fearing that
Tavernier will wreck his new apartment, Fadinard hastens away to his wedding, using every
opportunity he can to find a replacement hat. When finally he does manage to find
the elusive hat, things becomes even more complicated...
Review
René Clair skilful transposition of Labiche’s play from the 1850s to the 1890s
provides an outrageously funny satire on bourgeois attitudes. Although the plot
is childishly simple, the film is replete with content, showing the director's mastery
of both visual comedy and film photography.
The period setting (la belle époque) was chosen to emphasise the absurdity of Bourgeois
obsession with decorum and honour, epitomised by the straw hat itself. Only by finding
an identical straw hat to the one that was soiled by a dumb beast can a lady's reputation
be salvaged.
Un chapeau de paille d'Italie is notably one of the few silent French films that
can accurately be labelled a comic masterpiece. Even today, when the film's satirical
content is far less potent than it was when it was first released, the film is hilarious
and hugely entertaining. Without any exaggeration, this is simply one of the
funniest films of all time.
© James Travers 2000
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