Playtime

Jacques Tati's spectacular cinematic art reached its peak in the gargantuan achievement of this film, PLAYTIME. Marking the third appearance of Tati's Mr. Magoo-like character, Mr. Hulot, PLAYTIME takes as its subject modern technology and its sometimes disastrous and always hilarious effects on the people living within it. As in most Tati films, a minimal plot (the parallel paths of Hulot and a group of American tourists), is held together by a seamless ballet of visual, aural, and conceptual gags. Tati constructed an enormous set, Tativille, rendering a high modern contemporary Paris decked in chrome, mirrors, and glass within which the surreal slapstick of PLAYTIME unfolds. Filmed in 70mm Technicolor, with sound recorded on a seven-channel stereo, the film approaches the city from a bird's eye perspective showing the complex yet abstract machinations of people and their technologies, with each character linked to the other and the whole ensemble dependant on the giant grid of the modern city. Objects, people, and sounds vie for the viewer's attention and all exert equal fascination and comedic power in the circus of Tati's modern life. From the airport to the high rise to the nightclub, Hulot weaves in and out of view, leaving a trail of bumped heads, offended sensibilities and curious glances in his wake.