Marcovaldo and Monsieur Hulot in the 21st century

Italo Calvino’s Marcovaldo and Jacques Tati’s M. Hulot are literary and cinematic characters that have become relevant again today in our rapidly-changing technological world. 

Created during the postwar economic boom in Italy and France during the 1950s and 1960s when urbanization and technology changed the way people lived and interacted with one another, Marcovaldo and M. Hulot attempt to navigate modern living, while facing the alienation, environmental degradation and loss of traditions that come with it.

Marcovaldo, an unskilled labourer in Italy, dreams of reconnecting with nature by sleeping on a park bench only to be inundated with construction noises, flashing traffic lights and is awakened by a sprinkler system soaking him the next morning. Hulot, a tall, Chaplinesque character, is perplexed by the ultra-modern gadgets in modern France and accidentally breaks a glass while trying to drink water in his sister’s automated kitchen. Both characters long for authenticity and simplicity in an increasingly sterile, industrial world shaped by consumer culture. 

While both Marcovaldo and Hulot are funny, charming, and naïve, they also provide a gentle commentary on the societal shift, on the complexity of modernization and its technological effects on us – highlighting what we gain but also what we lose using the newest gadgets. 

In today’s world of smart technology, I wonder how Marcovaldo and M. Hulot would approach our fast-paced innovations with their signature old-world charm. Since Italo Calvino and Jacques Tati are no longer with us, we can only imagine how their stories might evolve in today’s technologically-shifting landscape. 

As Calvino is my favorite contemporary author and Tati my favorite film director, I write the following storylines for their characters with great love and respect. Drawing on my literary imagination, I propose their storylines / scenes might unfold like this: 

Marcovaldo and the tomato plant 

Marcovaldo arrives at a “smart” piazza in Italy where, instead of human vendors at fruit carts, shiny computer kiosks greet people with AI voices. Marcovaldo approaches an AI-operated gardening kiosk and eagerly buys genetically-engineered seeds after he hears the tomatoes will grow to be as big as pumpkins.

Marcovaldo is thrilled to finally serve his wife and six children a proper meal and runs home and plants the seeds on the roof-top garden of his tiny attic apartment, right next to his neighbour’s small tomato patch.

As the tomato plants grow, it becomes a race to see whose plant grows faster and bigger. Within days, Marcovaldo’s plant soars higher and produces enormous tomatoes, while his neighbour's plant yields only enough for one meal.

Harvest time arrives, and both neighbouring families pick their tomatoes and prepare a spaghetti feast. But when Marcovaldo takes a bite of his pasta with tomato sauce, all he can taste is the pasta and olive oil! His tomatoes, although bigger as promised by AI, have no taste at all! 

M. Hulot’s “Literary” Holiday (Script format)

EXTERIOR BEACH – DAY

M. HULOT arrives at the beach, a book is tucked under his arm. He positions his umbrella and settles into his chair, opening the book with a contented sigh. He glances over to a MAN sitting comfortably beside him under the next umbrella with a tablet in hand and they greet each other with a nod. 

The wind picks up, and the pages of M. Hulot’s book flutter continuously. Hulot struggles to hold them down, frowning as he tries to read. 

Meanwhile the man sits comfortably with his tablet in hand. He scrolls effortlessly reading his eBook, completely unbothered by the gusts of wind whipping around him.

Hulot glances over curiously as the man continues to read his with ease. Hulot wrestles into numerous uncomfortable positions trying to prevent the wind from turning his book pages, but to no avail – the wind wins every time.

LATER

The wind dies down, the umbrellas barely ripple, and the sun now shifts in the sky.

A beam of light now reflects off of the man’s tablet at an uncomfortable angle, creating a glare. The man squints, puts on his sunglasses, tilts the device, and tries to adjust his position, but there is no escaping the glare.

Meanwhile, the bright sunlight now favours Hulot, with the sun shining perfectly down upon his page, allowing him finally to enjoy his book without interruption. With no trace of wind, the book is held steady in his hand.

Hulot sits back with a smile, finally absorbed in his reading as the man with the tablet gives up and slumps in frustration.

Hulot doesn’t notice. He’s too busy enjoying his book.

FADE OUT.