Tonton Tati...

Playtime, by Jacques Tati, dates from 1967. It was a commercial failure and had very bad reviews. It was very expensive to make; a whole city, nicknamed “Tativille”, was built as part of the set.

Scenes of Playtime:

A female group of American tourists arrives at the ultra-modern and impersonal Orly Airport near Paris.

M. Hulot, the central character of the movie, reaches one of the glass and steel buildings where he’s expected for a job interview. There, he gets lost among the labyrinthine offices.

The American tourists, and M. Hulot, find themselves in a trade fair and discover the latest modern gadgets, including a door that slams shut without making any noise.

M. Hulot meets an old friend who invites him to his flat. It is very modern and everything in the flat can be seen from outside through huge windows. This sequence is filmed entirely from the street.

At a luxury restaurant, Hulot meets up again with several characters he has met during the day, along with a few new ones. All the people he meets there want to appear very important and show off their wealth.

Hulot buys Barbara, one of the American tourists, two small gifts as souvenirs. The bus returns to the airport surrounded by a merry-go-round flow of vehicules.

I consider Playtime to be a masterpiece. It was shot on 70mm film, which is unusual; it allowed Tati to put a lot and in great detail onto the screen, which is particularly useful for the crowd scenes.

Playtime was conceived by Tati like a ballet, with every mouvement, every gesture, being precisely calculated. As a dancer, I am very impressed by the film’s noisy crowd movements: the clattering of ladies’ shoes, the typewriters, the shlunk of the doors closing, the traffic, and the inane meaningless chatter, etc., that give a rhythm to all the routine gestures.

The “message” of the film is that social conformity is unhealthy... Hulot tries to “fit in” to the grey, robotic, monotonous, strict, boring and artificial world, but fails. In this he embodies the individual’s need for more colour, more spontaneity, and more freedom. Tati imagined our future, entirely devoid of sincerity. He wants us to become true and spontaneous so as not to create a society devoid of humanity.

Article by Julie B

Julie is working on a choreography inspired by Playtime... If you would like more details, do not hesitate to ask her!