Play Time (1967)

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

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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:

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)

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.