I'm glad I saw Mr. Hulot's Holiday before this, as Tati's style takes some serious getting used to. But once I got what he was doing (about halfway through Holiday), it became a joy. Here we get the same plot-less, character-less stroll through everyday life, with mild sight gags everywhere, and every frame stuffed full of details. It's got almost a silent comedy vibe, only the focus isn't on blunt slapstick, but friendly observations. I think this one is better constructed than Holiday. The glass-walled, technology-driven aesthetic was great. The first act in the building was an absolute blast. The scene with the glass-walled apartment buildings and the televisions was cool too. And the dinner scene, while the most complex and detail-rich, went on a few minutes too long. Loved the carnival finale. I've really never seen anything else like Tati's films, but I'm anxious to see more.
I loved this movie, I think it's a masterpiece, but I sorta understand how it may be disappointing to some.
I think it really helps if you don't think of it as a comedy. There are plenty of funny bits, but it's not a movie to make you laugh.
It's actually closer to a musical. Some huge, elaborated, complex musical, with magnificent sets, but the song and dance numbers are replaced by the chaos of modern urban life itself.
We get both the malignant aspects of modernity (the first part of the movie) and the benign (the second part).
Oh yeah, and this movie needs to be seen in a huge movie theater screen, not at home.
after disastrous, pedestrian and boring comedy attempts, tati finally finds his own style. well he had shown the signals of this transformation in "mon oncle", but i wasn't ready for something radical and marvellous as this. (it even becomes a little fellini-style during that ambitious restaurant scene)
finally bringing the antics of badly done slapstick to a minimum and creating a fantastic fusion of "modern day architecture and human interaction within", tati achieves something remarkable here. some shots seem like downright out of edward hopper paintings. i'm pretty sure roy andersson used this movie's color palette and general atmosphere as a blueprint for his movies.
and dissolving the not-so-likeable hulot character nearly into another extra in the crowd and making the whole setting the main character, tati hits another bullseye.
to cut it short, this is a movie that will never, ever lose its appeal and significance unlike tati's former bland works.
I didn't hate this nor love this not even like or dislike it... It didn't bore me ,but it didn't interest me... I just don't get this film at all. Maybe I will re-watch it someday and I will get what all the fuss is about...
I finally figured out what bothered me about this movie & Mr Hulot’s vacation.
I don’t find bungling oafs funny. I find them annoying. Johnny English, Get Smart (tv show and movie), Mr Bean (tv show and movies). I have never found them funny. Even as a kid watching Mr Bean. Friends would be in stiches, and I would be getting irritated. That's not to say I don’t enjoy humour. I love Monty Python and police squad. Stupid and/or incompetent is just not funny to me.
HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT...if you are still reading, I appreciated the first half of this movie. Ignore the fish out of water / bungling oaf nonsense. The use or colour, sounds, symmetry where all interesting and enjoyable to watch. The second half of the movie was just plain boring
Tati's undeniable masterpiece is Playtime and I won't try to deny it. As we follow the timid and clumsy Hulot to a trip to the big city, as well as groups of tourists from Britain and/or America, it feels like Paris is posing for Tati, like it's all part of an elaborate production design. Paris as a science fiction model or matte painting. And of course, some of it IS a grandiose set, but not all. Tati finds visuals that are amusing, interesting and resonant in "nature", so to speak. The satirical confrontation between natural and artificial (i.e. modern) he showcased in Mon oncle and will again in Trafic is here at its best, as it makes a very interesting point about modernity's erasure of specificity. This big city is Paris, but it could be any modern city. All the buildings are the same, all the furniture, and Tati amuses by creating a lot of situations where one thing is taken to be another, one person for another (including a number of twin Hulots). The joke is interchangeability. In the modern world, the difference between an office, a store or an apartment is merely functional. The restaurant too new to be opened is an amazing space and that sequence could itself have been the film and still ranked among Tati's best work. Immaculately staged chaos, and very funny. And for all the gags and visual invention, it's the young woman who wants an authentic travel experience and only glimpses the great sights obliquely that makes the film as poignant as it is. I think she does get it, at the end, because modern genericity might well lose its struggle against specificity, in the PEOPLE, if not the spaces they live in. Just a wonderful picture, top to bottom.
Like the other Monsieur Hulot film I've seen, it's just hours of people watching. It's entertaining, but requires a lot of attention for not a lot of payoff.
Witty but not that funny, perhaps I'm not so accustomed to french type comedy, I got most of the jokes and 'funny' nuances but I was always asking myself "Do I really need to laugh about this one?", at least for me it was more of a chuckle, tongue in cheek kind of fun, but not that much, or perhaps I was not in the mood for this type of snobbish comedy :P
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Comments 1 - 15 of 21
caiman
I'm glad I saw Mr. Hulot's Holiday before this, as Tati's style takes some serious getting used to. But once I got what he was doing (about halfway through Holiday), it became a joy. Here we get the same plot-less, character-less stroll through everyday life, with mild sight gags everywhere, and every frame stuffed full of details. It's got almost a silent comedy vibe, only the focus isn't on blunt slapstick, but friendly observations. I think this one is better constructed than Holiday. The glass-walled, technology-driven aesthetic was great. The first act in the building was an absolute blast. The scene with the glass-walled apartment buildings and the televisions was cool too. And the dinner scene, while the most complex and detail-rich, went on a few minutes too long. Loved the carnival finale. I've really never seen anything else like Tati's films, but I'm anxious to see more.Rene Narciso
I loved this movie, I think it's a masterpiece, but I sorta understand how it may be disappointing to some.I think it really helps if you don't think of it as a comedy. There are plenty of funny bits, but it's not a movie to make you laugh.
It's actually closer to a musical. Some huge, elaborated, complex musical, with magnificent sets, but the song and dance numbers are replaced by the chaos of modern urban life itself.
We get both the malignant aspects of modernity (the first part of the movie) and the benign (the second part).
Oh yeah, and this movie needs to be seen in a huge movie theater screen, not at home.
deckard.
after disastrous, pedestrian and boring comedy attempts, tati finally finds his own style. well he had shown the signals of this transformation in "mon oncle", but i wasn't ready for something radical and marvellous as this. (it even becomes a little fellini-style during that ambitious restaurant scene)finally bringing the antics of badly done slapstick to a minimum and creating a fantastic fusion of "modern day architecture and human interaction within", tati achieves something remarkable here. some shots seem like downright out of edward hopper paintings. i'm pretty sure roy andersson used this movie's color palette and general atmosphere as a blueprint for his movies.
and dissolving the not-so-likeable hulot character nearly into another extra in the crowd and making the whole setting the main character, tati hits another bullseye.
to cut it short, this is a movie that will never, ever lose its appeal and significance unlike tati's former bland works.
ThomasFTB
More tedious than funnyPaper_Okami
I didn't hate this nor love this not even like or dislike it... It didn't bore me ,but it didn't interest me... I just don't get this film at all. Maybe I will re-watch it someday and I will get what all the fuss is about...tomsalad
Very, very refreshing! And hilarious!greenhorg
I haven't encountered a more misleading movie title since L'avventura.Phiphi
Runs circles around Peter Sellers' "The Party" that came the next year.Warrison
I finally figured out what bothered me about this movie & Mr Hulot’s vacation.I don’t find bungling oafs funny. I find them annoying. Johnny English, Get Smart (tv show and movie), Mr Bean (tv show and movies). I have never found them funny. Even as a kid watching Mr Bean. Friends would be in stiches, and I would be getting irritated. That's not to say I don’t enjoy humour. I love Monty Python and police squad. Stupid and/or incompetent is just not funny to me.
HAVING SAID ALL OF THAT...if you are still reading, I appreciated the first half of this movie. Ignore the fish out of water / bungling oaf nonsense. The use or colour, sounds, symmetry where all interesting and enjoyable to watch. The second half of the movie was just plain boring
Siskoid
Tati's undeniable masterpiece is Playtime and I won't try to deny it. As we follow the timid and clumsy Hulot to a trip to the big city, as well as groups of tourists from Britain and/or America, it feels like Paris is posing for Tati, like it's all part of an elaborate production design. Paris as a science fiction model or matte painting. And of course, some of it IS a grandiose set, but not all. Tati finds visuals that are amusing, interesting and resonant in "nature", so to speak. The satirical confrontation between natural and artificial (i.e. modern) he showcased in Mon oncle and will again in Trafic is here at its best, as it makes a very interesting point about modernity's erasure of specificity. This big city is Paris, but it could be any modern city. All the buildings are the same, all the furniture, and Tati amuses by creating a lot of situations where one thing is taken to be another, one person for another (including a number of twin Hulots). The joke is interchangeability. In the modern world, the difference between an office, a store or an apartment is merely functional. The restaurant too new to be opened is an amazing space and that sequence could itself have been the film and still ranked among Tati's best work. Immaculately staged chaos, and very funny. And for all the gags and visual invention, it's the young woman who wants an authentic travel experience and only glimpses the great sights obliquely that makes the film as poignant as it is. I think she does get it, at the end, because modern genericity might well lose its struggle against specificity, in the PEOPLE, if not the spaces they live in. Just a wonderful picture, top to bottom.TheMajor
@greenhorgHaha. I am watching this movie now and I'm loving it!
TheGallopingGhost
Like the other Monsieur Hulot film I've seen, it's just hours of people watching. It's entertaining, but requires a lot of attention for not a lot of payoff.AdGuzman
Witty but not that funny, perhaps I'm not so accustomed to french type comedy, I got most of the jokes and 'funny' nuances but I was always asking myself "Do I really need to laugh about this one?", at least for me it was more of a chuckle, tongue in cheek kind of fun, but not that much, or perhaps I was not in the mood for this type of snobbish comedy :Pfakirfikir
My first Jac tati movie and it was amazing, breath-taking and so on and on. It was simply put it must watch movie.marywonka
One of the funniest movies I've ever seen !Showing items 1 – 15 of 21