Director Jacques Tati has Monsieur Hulot get lost in the ultra-modern Tativille. In Playtime (re-release), you see a world full of open-plan offices and the rat race — filmed in wide 70mm format. Now recognized as a masterpiece. On view at Lab111 in Amsterdam.
A unique view of the modern city
In Playtime, you follow the clumsy Monsieur Hulot through a world of glass, concrete, and open-plan offices. Director Jacques Tati recreated an entire city for this: Tativille. That city is not a backdrop, but a main character in itself. Tati shows how people get lost in a world they have built themselves.
Style and film technique
Tati deliberately chose the widescreen 70mm format to capture the cold distance of the modern city. He films many scenes with a static camera, allowing the viewer to decide for themselves what to look at. Something is happening simultaneously everywhere in the frame. That makes Playtime a film you experience differently multiple times.
From flop to masterpiece
At its premiere in 1967, Playtime was not well received. The public and critics did not understand the film, and Tati was financially ruined. Only later was the film recognized as one of the most ambitious and original works in film history. Tati's message — 'I advocate for the individual in a world that is becoming more and more dehumanized' — still resonates today.
