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)

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English | German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Joinville, Haute-Marne, France

Company:

Jolly Film

Trivia:

To cut production cost cardboard cut-outs were used as extras in the background. To give them life some human extras would interact with the cut-outs.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Au-delà de 'Play Time' (2002) (V)

Stunning!

This is the right movie for anyone who is tired of "modern" comedies. Aside from its stunning visuals and extremely clever use of sound effects (the film has nearly no dialogue), its humour is highly intelligent, not always obvious, and i must say that i was delighted to see a film that did not try to be funny all the time. This is to say, most other comedies put gag after gag after gag, but to do so they usually stretch one gag for too long. Playtime (and nearly all other works by Tati, which are all must-sees), on the other hand, has long sequences with no reason to laugh, and then it hits the audience with a gag (or, in this film`s case, rather an anecdote) - which is only a few seconds long. So its not for fans of Austin Powers or Dumb & Dumber, but nonetheless very, very funny. 9/10