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I really liked this one. No close-ups, no insert shots, no plot, little dialogue…..just a meandering look at modern life in a soul-less, bland city that, as the travel posters in the film show us, could be anywhere. A bold, original take on a city that is usually adored by filmmakers. Instead, Tati creates his own image of Paris, an image of stifling conformity and bedazzling modernity. And what a set! This film was beautifully constructed and shot, although I found that the Criterion edition looked a little washed-out and not as colourful as I would’ve imagined. Maybe it’s supposed to be that way.

I absolutely loved the scene where Monsieur Hulot goes to his friend’s apartment wherein one wall is nothing but glass, as are all of the neighbours’ apartments. The audience is left outside, we only see what Hulot, his friend, and all of the neighbours are doing and the only thing we hear are the street sounds. And we watch all of the inhabitants watch their TVs, facing each other but unknown to each other. Like an audience watching a film.

Was it just me, or was anyone else waiting for Jerry Lewis to pop up in the extended (perhaps over-long) nightclub sequence?

This is a beautiful, vibrant film that just has so much going on in each frame that it demands to be watched again and again. This is only my first viewing of it, but I guarantee there will be more. It is wonderful just spending time in this modern/futuristic city that Tati has created. The restaurant in particular is somewhere I would love to be able to visit. The entire film is shot on a set completely built by Tati.

It is a sad fact that due to the debt Tati found himself in after making this film, and its commercial and critical failure upon release, the entire city and studio lot that was to be Tati’s legacy to French filmmakers for the future, was torn down and the land sold.

Jacques Tati’s PLAYTIME: I stumbled across it one day while reading the paper. There, in the middle of the entertainment section, I saw a fascinating image. In it, a tall man in a short coat, a hat, and an umbrella stood at the top of the stairs in what appeared to be an office space, full of cubicles, looking like a maze.

Immediately I delved into the article, which was presenting a newly restored 70mm print of the legendary film.

Jacques Tati’s film is presented as a ‘comedy’. It’s sort of that. I suppose the best analogy to use is that PLAYTIME is like 2001: A SPACE ODDYSSEY, but only funny.

Tati’s humor is unusual in that he has elaborate setups for sight-gags and little to no dialogue whatsoever. Everything is visual, but he uses color so sparingly you might be wondering why he even bothered in the first place with it.

Imagery is very compositional; prat-falls seem to be missing the prat-fall itself but have all the buildup, characters are essentially nameless figures wandering through landscapes, and the paceing is slower than a snail. Not that this is a bad thing. Because it’s not.

All these elements are Tati’s modus operandi, and he pushes it to EPIC lengths in PLAYTIME, perhaps his magnum opus.

Before getting to the meat of the story, a little backstory.

What’s known is that the film took three years to shoot. Also, that shooting took place on a massive set known as ‘TATIVILLE’. It was given this name because Tati had meticulously planned out everything, so much so that he just had to have a miniature city constructed. The city was so big it required its own power plant to function.

So essentially, although the film takes place in “Paris”, it’s really Tati-ville, not Paris at all. This is how Tati wants his vision to appear. Because of the largeness of the sets, it fits nicely with the format being used to shoot: 70 mm.

This means that tons of visual information can be fitted into the frame. There are no closeups, next to none maybe. This is because on a true big screen, you will be able to see everyone and everything perfectly clear. 70mm is magical that way; also, the film’s use of sound is highly specific.

The sound design is such that it attracts and directs your attention to ‘hotspots’, so you aren’t totally lost. However, since there are hundreds of extras and characters running around the frame, the audience is basically allowed to let their eyes wander. There’s almost always something of interest on the screen.

In the end, Tati was bankrupt. The film’s production costs had ruined him, as did the picture’s commercial failure. Tati-ville had to be dismantled and demolished.

This didn’t stop him and the film was re-discovered anyway.

But onto the actual story! What is PLAYTIME about?

We see a towering skyscraper, shining against a bright blue sky.

In an airport, the city comes to life, with everyone arriving and leaving. A group of American tourists come in. The French President is being interviewed while his luggage tag flutters constantly. A pair of nuns flap their hat wings in rhythm. A tallish man with an umbrella drops it and gets lost outside.

There doesn’t seem to be a central character. Well, there is, but then again, there isn’t.

The film has no discernable plot whatsoever. It’s basically, “one day in Paris…” and that’s it.

The real joy is watching various characters attempt to get through their day in what appears to be a futuristic Paris, full of modernity, steel, glass and stylishness. Everyone can live in it, but then again, the technology surrounding them is still inhibiting…something.

In any case, there are a few central figures in the landscape: M. Hulot, played by Tati himself, is the closest we can get to a main character. An older man, wearing a hat, coat and carryin an umbrella, he seems confused by his environment and he tries throughout the first act to find a certain man in an office building.

Another character is Barbara, an american tourist along with a group who is trying to find the “real” Paris, which is impossible since everything is tall box-like buildings and shiny cars. The old Paris can only be found in fleeting glimpses in door reflections and windows.

These two are the main focus points though the cast is huge, full of interesting people with quirks and appealing personalities.

While the polemic against modernity is quite obvious, this is no malicious film. It is gentle and fable-like, almost resembling an epic children’s picture book.

In Tati’s world, no matter the setting, no one is mean or goes out of their way to hurt others. Everyone is trying to connect, in way or another. Technology seems to hinder that, but in the end, we always succeed.

This is illustrated graphically in the film’s centerpice: the Royal Gardens restaraunt, a long, highly choreographed sequence where a newly constructed cafe is having the worst night of its life. Everything is going wrong with the building: the neon signs don’t work, the lamps are fizzling out, the chairs rip people’s clothes and leave unecessary marks, the tile uproot themselves and stick to the maitre-de’s feet…

At the end of the evening, everyone is having a good time and the night-club has desended into a sort of chaos that is ordered and beautiful. What starts out as a formal dinner becomes a colorful cabaret full of loose friends and party-goers. It’s particuluary breathtaking because the entire movie has been building up to this moment, and finally, the world is released and everyone is left feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

In the end, the movie wants nothing more than for you to be happy. It is humorous and full of wonderful gags, but it is also wonderfully sentimental and glowing.

PLAYTIME is not for everyone. The film IS quite slow-moving, and might put the casual viewer to sleep. But it is a journey that is wondrous.

Two of the best and most enjoyable hours I’ve ever spent watching movies. I could discuss the elegant mis-en-scene, insane set work or subtle humor and attention to detail, but it’s better seen than heard. Put simply, Play Time is an incredible film. It is smart, funny, beautiful and creative and it ends up simultaneously playing as escapism and as constant reminder that this absurd thing we call life is nothing if not wondrous. It may very well be perfect.

Tati builds structures around his gags that allow them to play off as more than just simple jokes, they are machinery in themselves. Every sound effect, every physical tic, and, most of all, every absence of the viewer’s expectation is brick and mortar towards an understanding of the vocabulary of comedy. If Tati attempted to execute his situations in a less time consuming way, they would lose much of their depth and tension. When you get bored with the gag that’s playing out on the main stage, look to the back and fore ground, watch the other people in the shot, listen for rhythms and melodies. Tati’s films, especially Play Time, are as dense as anything ever produced in their representation of the ballet of life.