Mon Oncle is clearly a product of France’s relative economic prosperity of the 1950s, with the main theme of the movie being the contrast between the modernity of the main family’s home and lifestyle and the more minimal and old-school lifestyle and neighborhood of the uncle. The film’s critiques of the modernity and consumerism of the wealth of France in the 1950s can be seen in the set/background design. The family’s home is beautiful but completely impractical. Their walkway to their front door is a great example of this, as it is a pretty design, but it takes longer to get to the front door because of the curved design. Additionally, during the garden party scene, the guests are constantly stumbling over the stone walkways and ledges. The house is full of modern technology and architecture that seems to have been bought for the sake of owning it rather than serving any real purpose, with many parts of it making the lives of the family harder.

The way the son, Gerard, interacts with his home and modernity also shows some of the critiques made by the film. The house is clearly portrayed as a place that isn’t very well suited for a child to grow up in it. It is full of harsh lines and cold colors, with it being mostly white. There is also a lack of things that look like they would belong to Gerard like toys. He instead looks to things like the decorative sticks during the garden party to entertain himself. This contrasts with the way he interacts with his uncle and the kids he meets in the city. He clearly looks forward to seeing his uncle and the other kids and is far more engaged and active with them. The way Gerard interacts with modernity emphasizes the critique that modernity is cold and superficial, whereas more traditional lifestyles are welcoming and genuine.

This idea is carried over into how the two different neighborhoods/locations are portrayed. The movie starts with a scene of traffic going into the father’s work. The scene has perfectly coordinated cars moving along the traffic lines. The scene has cold lighting and colors, and the cars are also dull neutral colors. In contrast, the scene in the uncle’s neighborhood is more chaotic, people and vehicles move more freely on the street, and unlike the introductory scene for the modern world, this scene has people interacting with each other. The people in the older neighborhood are more social and genuine. While there are little conflicts, they are easily resolved and the people in the neighborhood seem to care more for one another.