Tati's wonderful times

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Movie
German title Tati's wonderful times
Original title Playtime
Country of production France , Italy
original language French ,
English ,
German
Publishing year 1967
length 126 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jacques Tati
script Jacques Tati,
Jacques Lagrange
production Bernard Maurice
music Francis Lemarque
camera Jean Badal ,
Andréas Winding
cut Gerard Pollicand
occupation

Tati's glorious times (original title: Playtime ) is a French-Italian fictional film by the director and actor Jacques Tati from 1967. In German-speaking countries it was also run under the titles Playtime - Tati's glorious times and PlayTime .

action

The film is set in a Paris that appears futuristic for the 1960s and which now only seems to consist of uniform glass and steel structures, with no trees or green spaces. The Eiffel Tower or Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre can only be seen for a few seconds as a reflection in the window.

The film character Monsieur Hulot - as portrayed in his other films by Jacques Tati himself - is looking for a Monsieur Giffard. He visits him in his office, but through a multitude of mishaps they constantly miss each other. Hulot's path crosses again and again with a US bus tour group that visits Paris and is only shown around this high-rise world that could not only stand anywhere else, but actually is, as can be seen in a travel agency from the advertising photos : Every travel destination advertises with the same high-rise photo, which is only spruced up by a few tourist set pieces. The modern world is alike to the point of interchangeability.

Remarks

The criticism of modernism is a recurring feature of Tati's films, but it celebrates a climax in Playtime . Above all, the impersonality, conformity and sterility of modernity are criticized, for example right at the beginning when a shiny chrome building resembles a hospital and can only be clearly identified as an airport later. The monotony of the rooms directs concentration on inevitable noises. In terms of uniformity, it is above all the man-made tones that dissolve the desired futurism of architecture through the comedy inherent in them. A furniture exhibition shows that the modern age will eventually also remedy this problem. The first company is already advertising a material that no longer makes any noise. Even angry slamming of doors goes unheard.

Human speech is also a mostly incomprehensible noise in the film, which is mixed in the most varied of languages, but precisely because of this, reflects personality. Understanding the language is also unimportant for the action, as movement and pantomime expressions make the meaning clear anyway.

The criticism of modernism appears less apocalyptic due to the irony and the vulnerability of technology, but all the more apt. Even in this uniformity, humanity regains small corners of community and individuality. In the final picture, the expression of modernity par excellence, the mobility of the automobile, finds its way into a roundabout that resembles a never-ending carousel ride.

Compared to the previous film Mein Onkel (1958), Tati intensifies his criticism of Anglicism or the criticism that everything must have modern, new, English names. This is the name of the new, modern restaurant "Royal Garden", the ice cream " Ice Cream ”, the Pharmacie ( pharmacy )“ Drugstore ”or the Fromage ( cheese ) now“ Cheese ”, which leaves two older women at a loss.

Jacques Tati had his own set city built for this film. The cost of this was so high, however, that the film was unable to bring in these issues at the box office, despite great reviews. Today Playtime is one of the classics.

Reviews

“A world theater characterized by melancholy cordiality, organized like a cinematic ballet that does not need a story, but only needs movements and encounters as an initial spark. Sometimes a bit leisurely, but always intelligently entertaining fun with a high aesthetic appeal. "

- Lexicon of international film

“Playtime cannot be compared to anything that has already been seen in the cinema. A film from another planet where other films are made. "

- François Truffaut

“The […] film by Jacques Tati uses satirical overemphasis to bring sterile phenomena of civilization to comical effects. A masterpiece in the thoughtfulness of the staging and the personal style of the various leitmotifs. Recommended for ages 14 and up. "

- Protestant film observer

Awards

DVD and Blu-ray releases

  • Tati's wonderful times . Universum-Film, Munich 2005. (DVD only)
  • Playtime - Tati's wonderful times . Arthaus (Studiocanal), Leipzig 2015 (DVD and Blu-ray, contain the restored film, an interview with Jacques Tati, a film analysis by Stéphane Goudet and scenes with audio commentary).

Soundtrack

  • Francis Lemarque , James Campbell : Play Time. Extraits de la Bande Originals du Film . On: Extraits of the volume Originales of the film de Jacques Tati . Philips / Polygram slsn sound carrier no. 836 983-2 - Excerpts (suite) from the original recording of the film music

Documentary film

  • Playtime Story (Original title: Playtime Story ). French television documentary by François Ede from 2002, 33 minutes

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tati's wonderful times. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 18, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 386/1968.