The older you get, the more you will identify with Jacques Tati’s alter-ego, Monsieur Hulot, a bumbling Everyman figure bamboozled by a world that seems to have outpaced his comprehension. There’s not much more to the story in Playtime than this: Hulot in Paris, 1967. As Tati put it, this was “probably the smallest script ever to be made in 70 millimeter.”
Yet it is more than enough. It’s two and a half hours long, and most people would happily watch it again and again, because each scene is densely layered with multiple sight gags.
Inspired by the silent slapstick comedians, and above all Charlie Chaplin, Tati was modernity’s clown; technology his banana skin. No filmmaker scrutinised the rapid architectural, scientific and sociological evolution of Gaullist France as quizzically as Tati in Jour de Fete (1949), Mon Hulot’s Holidays (1953) and Mon Oncle (1958). By Playtime (1967), his alter-ego Monsieur Hulot’s world has been transformed, and he seemed more than ever an anachronism. Shot over three years, the film was a commercial disaster which bankrupted its director, but it’s now evident that this is his masterpiece, a city symphony for the modern man.
Sunday’s Pantheon screening will be preceded by a 15 minute introductory lecture and feature a book club-style discussion afterwards.
Dec 15: Intro by Devan Scott, Cinematographer
Devan Scott is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s film program and has worked as a cinematographer, colourist, and director for ten years. As a cinematographer, his work has screened around the world at the Toronto International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Clermont Short Film Festival, and Busan International Film Festival among many others. As a colourist, his clients have included Google, Film Boldly, the Vancouver Canucks, the NFB, Wondershare, and Global Media. Devan is also an experienced educator, at UBC and other institutions, and has lectured regularly at the VIFF Centre. His podcast, How Would Lubitsch Do It? has found international acclaim.
A feast of subtle sight gags, playful noise and, above all, visual wonders.
Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Tati’s most elaborate film, Playtime stands as his masterpiece, an awe-inspiring work of intricate choreography with a heart to match its technical expertise.
Keith Phipps, The AV Club
Totally original and personal, this is a vast modern comic/poetic epic, lyrical, austere and strange.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Presented by
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati
France
1967
In French with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Screenwriter
Jacques Tati
Cinematography
Jean Badal, Andréas Winding
Editor
Gérard Pollicand
Original Music
Francis Lemarque
Production Design
Eugène Roman
Also in This Series
Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise)
The crowning glory of classical French cinema, this sumptuous melodrama brings to life the early 19th century Boulevard du Crime in Paris, where popular audiences for mime shows and carnival rub shoulders with wealthy patrons of classical theatre.
The Wild Bunch (Director's Cut)
The Mexico/Texas borderlands, 1913: Pike (William Holden) leads his gang of aging outlaws on a foray south for one last hurrah. Peckinpah's masterpiece, a savage lament for men who believe in nothing but find respect by dying in vain.
The Ascent
During the darkest winter of WWII, two Soviet partisans venture through the backwoods of Belarus in search of food, always at risk of falling into enemy hands. In her masterpiece Larisa Shepitko zeroes in on profound spiritual and philosophical themes.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Céline Sciamma's queer costume drama -- about a painter covertly studying a young noblewoman who refuses to sit for her portrait -- was voted 30th Greatest Film Ever Made in a 2022 poll, the highest ranking film of the past decade.
I Am Cuba
Infused with a palpable love for the country and a righteous anger at the injustices of the Batista era, I Am Cuba features some of the jaw-dropping camerawork ever filmed. A euphoric celebration of Cuba, the Revolution, and revolutionary cinema.
The Colour of Pomegranates + The House Is Black
This month's Pantheon screening is a double-bill, Sergei Parajanov's extraordinary evocation of the life and work of C18th Armenian poet Sayat Nova, and, The House is Black (22 min), the only film directed by the great Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad.