Review CXLVIII - Playtime

Review 148
Playtime (1967)

Playtime is not my first Jacques Tati film. I watched Mon Oncle probably about two years ago, and I can't say I was a fan. Some parts were funny (like the guy cleaning the streets talking to different people constantly) and the colours going on beautiful, but I thought it was slow and lost on me. Well, in the end, it was lost on me because the message really went over my head. Consequently, while hearing Jacques Tati's name reminded me of silence and little quirky jokes - not a very powerful duo - I agreed to watch Playtime with my boyfriend when he was searching for a comedy. Starring our beloved funnyman and Barbara Dennek, let us examine Tativille.

A group of American, female tourists visit the new, modern Paris in search for the newest craze. Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) befriends one (Barbara Dennek) while attempting to reduce his confusion in this strict, monochromatic city.

The blurb for Playtime is short because there isn't a very strict plot. It's literally following this woman along as she looks around modern Paris, and Monsieur Hulot being confused as hell because everything has been modernised. Everything else that happens just happens as a subsequent way to show what happens in this modern way.

While supposed to be a comedy, the movie instead made me feel very sad. I mean, I recognise the funny parts in it, but the theme was so depressing and always in your face. Starting off we see that the airport is also an office building and a hospital. A pharmacy is a drug store and a bar as well. To be as efficient as possible, single buildings are combined. It takes out the specialisation of a place and makes it general because who wants one thing when they can settle for more? Next the absence of colour makes your eyes hop at any chance to see green or red. You see that all the buildings are the same, all grey and white and black. When Barbara sees a woman selling flowers, she wishes to take a picture, claiming this is "really Paris". She herself is ridiculed when she goes to a party in a green dress. Seeing this droning colour palette makes you feel uncomfortable, or at least, I did. The design of the building is all square and linear with no chance at escaping on a different route.

When it comes to our characters, we see that Monsieur Hulot and Barbara stand out because, again, they move in an organic and flow-y way. Barbara, for example, is constantly straying out of the group, always being called back in. Monsieur Hulot enters a building and loses the man he should be following given the linearity of his movement. He moves around in any which way, throwing off others.

But perhaps the most depressing aspect was the globalisation and hidden French culture. In the beginning of the movie, the group is in a tour bus and get out to look at the Eiffel Tower. However, their guide tells them it is forbidden and moves them to look at the new Paris, slated with rectangular, grey buildings. We catch glimpses of posters beckoning residents to other cities, like London, all with the same grey, rectangular buildings that have plagued Paris. Obviously Tati is showing us that modern aesthetics take away originality from the country only to replace it with something clean that, well, makes you lose sense of where you are. You would never guess Playtime takes place in Paris because it has no distinct features, no distinct buildings. Barbara catches a look at the Eiffel Tower in a reflecting door, and we catch the Eiffel Tower in the distance in a shot with Monsieur Hulot. But the Eiffel Tower is far away - not where Paris is moving. Paris is moving away from beauty, from its routes. Instead, it is moving to a globalist viewpoint.

The globalist warning from Playtime, apart from the posters showing every city, every country looking the same, is the lack of coherent language in the movie. German, English, Japanese, Spanish, and French are mixed in. People expect to be catered to their language preference, without any attempt at speaking French. The European Union was pushing for presence when the film was made, but only formally introduced in 1993. It's eerie how the film communicates this union so well, with Frenchmen claiming throughout the film that they don't understand why the product isn't explained in French. Of course this is language, but given the reduction in prominent French culture, we see this as losing France as a whole. At one point, Monsieur Hulot is with his friend, and his friend searches in his pocket for a franc, implying he has currency from all over the world. Sad, isn't it, knowing that monetary union would take over about thirty-five years later in the country. When Playtime was made, it was warning the audience about the loss of French culture through globalisation and modernisation - now it reminds you that this is the present-day struggle.

While Playtime is sad, it nonetheless offers hope at the end. Modernisation is shown to fall apart at a restaurant, and a carnival is celebrated in the streets when people break away from a linear path. Given recent accomplishments in the United Kingdom, there is hope that nationalistic views can once again take over from international ones; traditionalism is what makes us stand apart. Attempting to mish-mash cultures to get a grey, straight, boring lifestyle does not lead to happiness - it only attempts to put us all in a box.

While the message in the movie is strong, I found it too strong and in my face. I like a bit more subtly in my film, and I feel like this one can be lost of a viewer as the theme is constant. Consequently, while I think Playtime is a great movie, I can see it being completely lost on the average Joe. It's artsy in its approach, so you get nice shots, but if you aren't seeing the message, you won't enjoy this one. But if you read my review, you're a little bit above and might appreciate the movie. Oh, and check out Why Beauty Matters while we're on the subject. It'll make you think. Happy viewing!