Comedian Rowan Atkinson was the toast of Purbeck at the weekend as he delighted a packed audience in Swanage with stories about how he created his character Mr Bean.
Atkinson was a guest speaker at the Purbeck Film Festival’s screening of Mr Hulot’s Holiday, written, directed, and starring legendary French filmmaker Jacques Tati.
In an onstage interview at the Mowlem Theatre after the film, conducted by cultural historian and author Matthew Sweet, Atkinson spoke warmly of his love for Tati’s brand of comedy and how it had influenced his own career, especially the creation of Mr Bean. He described Mr Hulot as warm, funny, gangling and fundamentally decent, and admitted that Mr Bean was a much less charming character.
Atkinson told the audience that he first saw Mr Hulot’s Holiday at the age of 17, projected onto the wall of his room at school, and said it was a joy to watch it on the big screen at the Mowlem.
“Seeing the film again tonight, I can see where I got my inspiration from. It was more consistently funny than I remembered,” he told Sweet, recalling some of the many stunts, accidents, trips, bumps and hilarious encounters in the 1953 black-and-white film.
He admitted to doing some research on Tati ahead of his appearance and served up many interesting anecdotes about Mr Hulot’s Holiday and his own 2007 film Mr Bean’s Holiday, including the importance of sound in silent movies.
Atkinson has made two films based on Mr Bean, as well as 14 TV episodes and 186 cartoon shows.
He returns to the London stage next year with a new show, Rowan Live, which brings together some of his most famous sketches. Alongside Mr Bean, he will conjure up Blackadder, as well as favourites from Not the Nine O’Clock News and new material created with long-term collaborators Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Howard Goodall.
The Purbeck Film Festival continues until the end of October, followed by an awards ceremony at the Mowlem on 1 November, showing a shortlist of short films chosen from hundreds of entries.
