Playtime (1967)

Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot was my first experience of watching Jacques Tati and his most famous character Monsieur Hulot. THat movie really didn’t have much story to it, but felt almost like a comedic documentaire about the events that take place in a hotel near a beach. The DVD set of his movies also had his fourth movie Playtime in it, which has been on my to watch list for years. I had gotten very curious about it and was interested to find out how it would compare to Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.

Playtime was a very ambitious project for Tati and he had a huge set built for the movie which strongly resembled a small town and was named ‘Tativille’ With it straight lines and minimalistic architecture that environment feels cold and distant. It are only the personal experiences which are responsible for taking the viewer into this world of cubicles, complex intercom systems and busy traffic. Just like in Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot there isn’t a whole lot of story. The movie opens in what initially seems to be a hospital, but pretty soon you find out it is actually an airport where a couple of American tourists arrive who are the fixed thing throughout the movie. Tati’s character Hulot, which he didn’t enjoy playing anymore, only appears during some scenes and again is responsible for some funny moments.

Despite the lack of plot Playtime managed to fascinate me and kept me watching. The movie is filled with visual jokes and there are times when so much is happening on screen that you are sure to miss a lot of them during the first viewing. The highlight of the movie for me is the part which is set during the opening night of a restaurant. The night is filled with problems that have to be dealt with including tiles which are loose, chairs which leave a marking on the guests of waiters who do each others work several times.
Playtime is a movie which you will have to see at least twice in order to take it all in. Unfortunately the movie turned out to be a failure for Tati and left him in debt for ten years. Despite that the movie has received the praise it deserves and has become a French masterpiece which won’t be forgotten anytime soon.