CriterionForum.org :: Info for Playtime

Jacques Tati's gloriously choreographed, nearly wordless comedies about confusion in the age of technology reached their creative apex with Playtime. For this monumental achievement, a nearly three-year-long, bank-breaking production, Tati again thrust the endearingly clumsy, resolutely old-fashioned Monsieur Hulot, along with a host of other lost souls, into a bafflingly modernist Paris. With every inch of its superwide frame crammed with hilarity and inventiveness, Playtime is a lasting testament to a modern age tiptoeing on the edge of oblivion.

Supplements

Video introduction by writer, director, and performer Terry Jones
Selected scene commentary by film historian Philip Kemp
Au-delà de "Playtime," a short documentary featuring archival behind-the-scenes footage from the set
Tati Story, a short biographical film about Tati
"Jacques Tati in Monsieur Hulot's Work," a 1976 BBC Omnibus program featuring Tati
Rare audio interview with Tati from the U.S. debut of Playtime at the 1972 San Francisco International Film Festival (Courtesy of Pacifica Radio Archives)
Video interview with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot
Cours du soir, a 1967 short film written by and starring Tati
Alternate international soundtrack

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