Playtime Reviews

It has been ages since I saw a movie directed by Jacques Tati (the guy made only 5 movies though) but since this movie has a really solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. I remember the first time I saw a Tati movie, I think it was ‘Jour de fête’, it must have been more than 20 years ago. Well, after hearing so many great things about his work, I have to admit that I was actually slightly disappointed. Eventually, it’s something that took me a while to understand, the fact that Tati’s movies are actually much deeper than your usual vintage silent comedies and it was eventually even more obvious with this movie. To be honest, I’m hardly surprised that this movie was a commercial and critical flop when it was released. Indeed, there was definitely something unique about this movie and, if you have any understanding of movies in general, you can’t deny that it was the work of a true artist. The attention to the details was quite impressive and, eventually, you have to figure out on your own what Tati was trying to achieve here. The one thing that struck me the most was when you get to see some advertisement showing London with a skyscraper and, then, a few seconds later, you basically got exactly the same landscape in Paris and it’s a feeling that I had so many times while I used to travel as much as possible. And, yet, even though I really admired the work done, I’m afraid it was still too random for me though. It’s not that I did mind the fact there was no real plot but there was also no real dialogues or even a main character. Indeed, even Mr Hulot only showed up and disappeared completely at random through the whole thing so there was not much for the audience to really hang on to. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t completely sold, it was still a really original and intriguing movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jacques Tati’s work.