Play Time

Play Time (Criterion #112).
1967 Spectra Films & Janus Films.
Starring: Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek, Billy Kearnes
Additional English dialogue: Art Buchwald (and his adulterated rot)
Director: Jacques Tati
Buy Play Time from Amazon.

Jacques Tati is Monsieur Hulot, and he's arrived in a futuristic Paris. He and a group of tourists from America, which includes a lovely lady named Barbara (Dennek) attempt to make their way through a city of straight lines, glass and steel high-rises, highways, and sparsely furnished living quarters. There really isn't much of a plot; it's simply a play where humanity encounters technology.

Play Time took nearly three years to complete, largely due to the film's production going over budget, thanks to the elaborate and massive set constructed for the movie, dubbed "Tativille". The set required a hundred construction workers to build it, and Tativille even required its own power plant to run. Tati himself eventually went bankrupt financing and completing the movie. But, to save money, the director utilized giant photographs of building facades, as well as life-sized cutouts of people to use in backgrounds.

The movie, while a critical success across the board, was a commercial failure in Europe, and later, in the U.S. after a heavily edited version of the movie (more M. Hulot!) debuted in 1973. I can safely say this is a highly recommended movie, and one that will require more than just one viewing. You see, there's always action in every scene, so you need multiple viewings to catch as many gags as you possibly can. Unfortunately, I've probably missed more than a few while writing this post out, but that'll happen. Regardless, seek out Play Time immediately!

Trafic

Trafic (Criterion #439). 1971 Janus Films & StudioCanal.
Starring: Jacques Tati, Tony Knepper, Franco Ressell, Mario Zanuelli, Maria Kimberly
Director: Jacques Tati
Buy Trafic at Amazon. Not to be confused with Traffic starring Michael Douglas.

Monsieur Hulot (Tati) returns for his fourth and final film appearance in this 1971 comedy about the French auto industry. In Trafic, Mr. Hulot is employed as an auto company's director of design, and he personally accompanies his new vehicle, a camper loaded with absurd gadgets, to an auto show in Amsterdam. The car was completed at a very late time, so it doesn't run, so it's loaded into the back of a truck. A series of ill-timed flat tires, breakdowns, traffic jams, and multi-car pileups, as well as M. Hulot's general comic ineptitude, make the simple trip all the more difficult.

I really like this movie. It's beautifully shot, and the many visual gags are hilarious. It also doesn't hurt that there's quite a few scenes filmed near, or on French highways, which appeals to the roadgeek in me. Highly recommended.

(Eventually, I'll review the other M. Hulot movies, just not in chronological order.)