DbcultAccessing Vault...
7.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Hyppolit, the Butler remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like watching people get extremely uncomfortable in their own homes, yes. You will probably love this if you enjoy shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm where the humor comes from social awkwardness.
You might hate it if you can't stand old black-and-white movies or if you need a lot of action to stay awake. It is mostly people talking in rooms and looking stressed out.
I sat down to watch this thinking it would be a chore. It wasn't.
The whole thing is carried by Gyula Kabos, who plays the dad, Schneider. He has this way of looking like his brain is vibrating because he's so annoyed. 😵💫
He just wants to eat his onions and stay in his undershirt. But his wife wants to be a 'lady' and hires this butler who used to work for counts.
The butler, Hyppolit, is played by Gyula Csortos. He is terrifyingly tall and stiff.
When he walks into a room, the air just leaves it. It's like watching a robot try to run a family, but way before The Golem or any of those sci-fi things made it a trope.
There is a scene where Schneider is trying to eat a normal meal and Hyppolit just stares at him. I felt that in my soul.
The movie gets really good when Schneider starts to snap. He tries to act like a tough boss but he's clearly scared of the guy folding his napkins.
The daughter's romance plot is... okay. It is the kind of thing you see in What Every Woman Wants where everything is a big misunderstanding.
I found myself checking my phone during the singing parts. 🎵 Some of the songs go on a bit too long for me.
But then Kabos comes back on screen and does something weird with his hands and I'm locked back in. He’s got this nervous energy that feels very modern.
The wife is also great in a 'please stop talking' kind of way. She is so desperate to be fancy that she treats her husband like a project that's failing.
It’s weirdly relatable. We all have that one family member who tries to act more sophisticated than they actually are.
The house they live in feels like a character too. It starts out looking cozy and ends up looking like a cold museum because of the butler's rules.
I noticed a few weird things while watching. Like how the lighting sometimes makes their eyes look super shiny, almost like they’re about to cry.
Also, the way people stand in 1930s movies is so formal. They all look like they are posing for a painting even when they are just complaining about soup.
It reminded me a bit of the stiff atmosphere in Blindfold, but obviously much funnier.
The movie doesn't really have a big message. It just says that being rich and fancy is a massive pain in the neck.
I think the ending happens a bit too fast. Everything just kind of resolves because the movie ran out of time. ⏱️
But I didn't mind. I was just happy to see Schneider finally get to be himself for a minute.
Random things I wrote down:
If you're bored on a Sunday, give this a spin. It’s better than most of the garbage on streaming right now because it actually has a personality.
It’s not perfect, and the audio is a bit scratchy in parts, but it’s got a lot of heart. ❤️
Anyway, that's my take. Go watch it for the mustache twitches alone.
IMDb —
1925
Community
Log in to comment.
