Le Petit Nicolas on M6: which cinema classic does the film refer to?

The comedy Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas, the second cinematic adventure of the prankster imagined by Sempé and Goscinny, is broadcast this Friday evening on M6. Led by Valérie Lemercier, Kad Merad and a Dominique Lavanant who had a hard time filming, the film sees the young Nicolas (Mathéo Boisselier) leave with his parents and his grandmother by the sea.

For Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas, director Laurent Tirard explains that he was inspired by films such as the great classic Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot by Jacques Tati or even L’Hôtel de la plage by Michel Lang. Means for him to recreate the holiday spirit evoked in his film.

“In approaching the aspect of holidays, I thought back to the films of my childhood like Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot or L’Hôtel de la plage”says the filmmaker, who was already behind the camera in 2009 for Le Petit Nicolas. “I thought that this theme would allow us to switch to a different setting and evoke the carefree holidays of those 50s and 60s.”

Released in theaters in 1953, Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, a little gem of poetry and absurd humour, recounts the arrival of the said Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati himself) in a quiet seaside resort on the Atlantic coast. Its presence will revolutionize the habits of city dwellers who spend their holidays there. As for L’Hôtel de la plage, it narrates the loves, rivalries and desires of a group of people who meet each year in Brittany for the summer holidays.

Les Vacances du Petit Nicolas was filmed in Vendée, on the island of Noirmoutier, and it was mainly the Plage des Dames that served as the set. The filming of the exteriors of Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot took place in the small seaside resort of Saint-Marc-sur-Mer, in Loire-Atlantique. Finally, the shots of L’Hôtel de la plage were partly taken at the Grand Hôtel des Bains de Locquirec, located in the Finistère department.

The trailer for “Monsieur Hulot’s Vacation”: