Play Time (1967)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Jacques Tati

Writers:

Art Buchwald (additional English dialogue)
Jacques Lagrange (writer)

Release Date:

27 June 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern...

Plot Keywords:

Tourist | Architecture | Paris France | Salesman | Mistaken Identity

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jacques Tati	...	Monsieur Hulot
Barbara Dennek	...	Young Tourist
Rita Maiden	...	Mr. Schultz's Companion (as Rita Maïden)
France Rumilly	...	Woman Selling Eyeglasses
France Delahalle	...	Shopper in Department Store
Valérie Camille	...	Mr. Lacs's Secretary
Erika Dentzler	...	Mme. Giffard
Nicole Ray	...	Singer
Yvette Ducreux	...	Hat Check Girl
Nathalie Jem
Jacqueline Lecomte	...	Young Tourist's Friend
Oliva Poli
Alice Field
Sophie Wennek
Evy Cavallaro

Also Known As:

Playtime (USA)
Tempo di divertimento (Italy)

Runtime:

France:155 min (with intermission and exit music) | 124 min (2002 restored version) | Sweden:115 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English | German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS 70 mm (70 mm prints) (restored version) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | Finland:S | France:U | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | West Germany:12 (nf) (w)

Filming Locations:

Joinville, Haute-Marne, France

Company:

Jolly Film

Trivia:

Production took place from October 1964 to October 1967. Filming began in April 1965 primarily on a set dubbed "Tativille", where 100 construction workers built two buildings using 11,700 square feet of glass, 38,700 square feet of plastic, 31,500 square feet of timber, and 486,000 square feet of concrete.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dinner Time (2005)

Peace in our time: the past and the future embrace

Where 'Mon oncle' was Tati's initial statement on the modern and its collision with the old, here in 'Playtime' he reaches his conclusion. They can unite - there is beauty in the new, as well. Yes, what is new and alienating now, will soon be the old familiar tradition. Everything changes, but the spirit of things remain.

This he manages to show in a series of beautiful scenes, brilliant observations, in a Paris which has been rebuilt to the extent, where the old Frenchman doesn't find his way around it, anymore, and the Eiffel tower can only be found in reflections on shiny glass or steel surfaces of modern buildings.

This is a film language all of its own, and driven to a razor sharp perfection. Through Tati's eyes, we can see exactly what he both worries about and marvels at, and of course we feel the same. The love he does in all his movies show for people, no matter how silly they might be, he also shows the city itself, and its megalomaniac constructions. It's all crazy, he tells us, but isn't it great fun, too? Yes, Jacques, it is, indeed.