What it’s about
M. Hulot (Tati), a Parisian bewildered by modern technology, spends one hectic morning attempting to keep an appointment with M. Giffard (Montant) in a towering, ultra-modern office building filled with automaton-like workers. Meanwhile, a group of American tourists, including starry-eyed young Barbara (Dennek), disembarks at Orly Airport and takes a bus to their hotel. He and she eventually meet in the hustle and bustle of a glitzy, shimmering new supper club, once Hulot has navigated the whirring, humming cityscape that entraps him.
Why we love it
Preceded almost ten years earlier by “Mon Oncle,” this marvelous French comedy continues the misadventures of Tati’s Chaplinesque everyman, M. Hulot. The most dazzling and technically accomplished of his films, “Playtime” is a light satire on the mesmerizing and disorienting effects of technology and the modern world. Filmed in 70mm on a vast set — an extant metropolis that Parisians dubbed “Tati-ville”. “Playtime” is a jaw-dropping spectacle reflecting the director’s wistful regard for simpler times. That inspired, carnival-like sequence in the nightclub is not to be missed!