Monsieur Hulot finds himself lost in a futuristic Paris when he stumbles upon a great exhibition showcasing the latest in designs and gadgets. His encounters with an American tourist group and, in particular, a young woman named Barbara form the basis for Tati’s most memorable achievement. Using non-professional actors where possible, the filmmaker-star creates an ultra-modern world – the perfect environment for his physical comedy set-pieces.
Justin Johnson, bfi.org.uk
Filmed on a huge, complex set suggestive of the cool, vaguely dehumanising effects of technology and design on modern life, Jacques Tati’s masterpiece offers a low-key account of the bumbling Hulot’s experiences during one day in Paris. An office block of glass and steel becomes a boxed-in prison; a chaotic restaurant provides a memorably liberating opportunity for humanity to express itself.
‘Tati’s ruinously ambitious masterpiece starts as a satire of modern architecture and becomes a strangely beatific celebration of the way people move through public spaces. A film about minor embarrassments and fleeting connections between strangers, it begins in alienation and builds to a transcendent vision of communal harmony. Gruelling labour went into each seemingly effortless grace note, as Tati the performer drifts in aimless bewilderment through the world that Tati the director obsessively controls. In Playtime, the movie screen is an idealised public space in which Tati’s people demonstrate the joys of being one-dimensional.’ (Imogen Sara Smith)
‘There are plenty of films that offer a critique of technology and modernity. Yet, with his distinctive, meticulous mise en scène, which exploits depth of field in an unparalleled way, and his peculiar ‘downgrading’ of dialogue to a sound like any other, boosting the communicative role of the image, Tati does so in a unique and radical fashion.’ (Cristina Formenti)
‘One of the most ambitious films ever made.’ (Jai Arjun Singh)
bfi.org.uk
PLAYTIME
Director: Jacques Tati
A Specta Films production
Producer for Specta Films: Bernard Maurice
Associate Producer: René Silvera
Unit Managers: Marc Goldstaub, Noële Mouton, Jacques Serres
Location Managers: Georges Houssaye, Guy Maugin,
Robert Moussard, Henri Gansser
Production Administrator: Michel Chauvin
Assistant Directors: Henri Marquet, Nicolas Ribowsky, Jean Lefebvre, Akira Endo, Marie-France Siegler
Script Supervisors: Sylvette Baudrot, Lucille Costa, Marie-Thérèse Cabon
Original Screenplay by: Jacques Tati
Screenplay written with the artistic collaboration of: Jacques Lagrange
English Dialogue: Art Buchwald
Director of Photography: Jean Badal
Collaborating Director of Photography: Andréas Winding
Camera Operator: Paul Rodier
Collaborating Camera Operator: Marcel Franchi
Assistant Operator: René Schneider
Collaborating Assistant Operators: F. Doszpoly, J. Monseigny
Chief Electrician: Georges Ferrière
Stills Photography: André Dino, Jean-Louis Castelli, André Morain
Editor: Gérard Pollicand
Assistant Editors: Denise Giton, Sophie Tatischeff, J.F. Gallaud
Art Director: Eugène Roman
Art Department Collaborators: Jacques Paris, Jacques Brizzio, Jacques d’Ovidio, Théo Meurisse, Maurice Sergent
Properties: André Pierdel, Henri Berger, Jacques Preisach
Costumer: Jacques Cottin
Make-up: Serge Groffe, Igor Keldich
Hairdresser: Janou Pottier
Original Music by: Francis Lemarque
African Themes by: James Campbell
Music Arranger/Orchestra Conductor: François Rauber
Music Recording: Studio Davout (Paris)
Sound Supervisor: Jacques Maumont
Synchronisation: Claude Plouganou
Assistant Synchronisation: Daniele James
Stereo Sound Recording: SIMO (Paris)
Sound Editor: Maurice Laumain
Dialogue Recording: Paris-Studios-Cinéma
Music Publisher: Tutti et Specta
Cast
Jacques Tati (M. Hulot)
Barbara Dennek (young American)
Rita Maïden (girl with Mr Schulz)
France Rumilly (spectacles salesgirl)
France Delahalle (customer at Strand)
Valérie Camille (M. Lacs’ secretary)
Erika Dentzler (Madame Giffard)
Nicole Ray (singer)
Yvette Ducreux (cloakroom girl)
Nathalie Jem (customer at ‘Royal Garden’)
Jacqueline Lecomte (young American’s friend)
Oliva Poli, Alice Field, Sophie Wennek, Evy Cavallaro, Luce Bonifassy, Ketty France, Eliane Firmin-Didot (customers at ‘Royal Garden’)
Laure Paillette, Colette Proust (women with the lamp)
Billy Kearns (Mr Schulz)
Tony Andal (porter)
Yves Barsacq (friend)
André Fouché (manager of ‘Royal Garden’)
Georges Montant (M. Giffard)
Georges Faye (architect)
John Abbey (M. Lacs)
Reinhart Kolldehoff (German director)
Michel Francini (maître d’hôtel)
Grégorie Katz (German salesman)
Jack Gauthier (guide)
Henri Piccoli (important gentleman)
Léon Doyen (doorman)
François Viaur (unlucky waiter of ‘Royal Garden’)
Douglas Read, Bob Harley, Jacques Chauveau (customers at ‘Royal Garden’)
Gilbert Reeb (womanising waiter at ‘Royal Garden’)
Marc Monjou (the false Hulot)
Billy Bourbon (regular at the bar)
Daniel Emilfork (customer at ‘Royal Garden’) *
Peter Lennon (guide) *
France 1967
124 mins
* Uncredited
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Programme notes and credits compiled by the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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