Post by klep on Mar 22, 2021 12:38:44 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/22: Playtime
1960s WEEK!
In the post-war period, as life started approaching something that could be considered normal, the civilian economy ramped up both its production and marketing with companies working to convince consumers that they needed whatever the latest and greatest product was that the company was selling. This expanding middle class to fill the need for increased bureaucracy and other white collar openings created by the surge in demand. Millions of workers starting their days by going to office buildings all day and then going back home to have the products they spent all day selling sold to them on their televisions.
Jacques Tati saw this and said "This is ridiculous."
I can't say Playtime is stridently or emphatically anti-consumerist, because that would imply a level of anger that isn't really present. To Tati, rampant consumerism and the burgeoning white collar bureaucracy is really just silly. The key is that while the film has a level of contempt for the various gizmos and gadgets and systems of modern society, it has boundless empathy for the people trapped in and with them. There is no overarching buzzkill of a person there to make everyone miserable, just a bunch of people trying to get through their days and live up to the expectations others have of them.
Playtime's Paris is a grey, depressing line of slab-like office buildings, all steel, concrete, and glass. People move in right angles and are stoically and amusingly precise and exacting in their actions, even when the purpose of their actions is wasteful and inefficient. Case in point, when Mr. Giffard (Georges Montant) walks all the way down a long hallway to show Hulot into the waiting room right next to him - as the doorman stands there watching.
As the film progresses, things gradually loosen up. It moves from the office building to a consumer products expo which is inherently a little chaotic and has some great sound work in a bit with doors that slam silently. But even when Hulot runs into a friend and joins him in his apartment for a drink everything is still drab and samey. The apartment sequence is filmed from outside, with all four units we see oriented the same, with big plate glass windows turning us into voyeurs watching the characters watch tv - as pointed an indictment of the audience as a film as gentle as Playtime is going to have.
It's in the Royal Garden club sequence that humanity finally catches up with propriety. The Royal Garden is in its first night of operation, and as workers rush to finish last-second construction the guests are arriving. All day the city has been trying to keep people in the lines and subdued, but that's not how humans are. Eventually you'll get a few in a good place, having a good time, and chaos is going to happen. As things go off the rails more and more color is introduced into the film - the sedate business suits of the early evening give way to the plaids and colorful patterns of late arrivers - and everyone is noticeably having a much better time.
In the morning the party is over, but the color remains. The tour gets on their bus to head back to the airport, and the city is decorated as if for a party, with happy people (and children!) wandering all around. Perhaps it is the weekend or some other holiday. But regardless a relic of the previous day remains. The bus is trapped in a traffic circle.
Playtime is the most extravagant of Tati's films starring his Monsieur Hulot character. It was an elaborate and expensive production requiring the construction of a massive city set (Tativille) that ultimately drove Tati to bankruptcy, but the result is widely considered his masterpiece. A gentle satire and send-up of consumerism that pokes fun at how we fall into the traps of corporate messaging and mandates, but wants us to remember that to err is human and to have a good time is divine.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/29: One From the Heart
DREAM PROJECTS WEEK!
Francis Ford Coppola's passion project romance is our pick for Dream Projects Week, with a cast that includes Terri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinksi, and Harry Dean Stanton. Be sure to join us next week for our discussion of One From the Heart, available for rent from the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/23: Raya and the Last Dragon
Next up the podcast concludes its pairing on wildlife conservation with the latest Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon. Join us on Wednesday for our discussion of this film, available for (expensive) rent on Disney+.
1960s WEEK!
In the post-war period, as life started approaching something that could be considered normal, the civilian economy ramped up both its production and marketing with companies working to convince consumers that they needed whatever the latest and greatest product was that the company was selling. This expanding middle class to fill the need for increased bureaucracy and other white collar openings created by the surge in demand. Millions of workers starting their days by going to office buildings all day and then going back home to have the products they spent all day selling sold to them on their televisions.
Jacques Tati saw this and said "This is ridiculous."
I can't say Playtime is stridently or emphatically anti-consumerist, because that would imply a level of anger that isn't really present. To Tati, rampant consumerism and the burgeoning white collar bureaucracy is really just silly. The key is that while the film has a level of contempt for the various gizmos and gadgets and systems of modern society, it has boundless empathy for the people trapped in and with them. There is no overarching buzzkill of a person there to make everyone miserable, just a bunch of people trying to get through their days and live up to the expectations others have of them.
Playtime's Paris is a grey, depressing line of slab-like office buildings, all steel, concrete, and glass. People move in right angles and are stoically and amusingly precise and exacting in their actions, even when the purpose of their actions is wasteful and inefficient. Case in point, when Mr. Giffard (Georges Montant) walks all the way down a long hallway to show Hulot into the waiting room right next to him - as the doorman stands there watching.
As the film progresses, things gradually loosen up. It moves from the office building to a consumer products expo which is inherently a little chaotic and has some great sound work in a bit with doors that slam silently. But even when Hulot runs into a friend and joins him in his apartment for a drink everything is still drab and samey. The apartment sequence is filmed from outside, with all four units we see oriented the same, with big plate glass windows turning us into voyeurs watching the characters watch tv - as pointed an indictment of the audience as a film as gentle as Playtime is going to have.
It's in the Royal Garden club sequence that humanity finally catches up with propriety. The Royal Garden is in its first night of operation, and as workers rush to finish last-second construction the guests are arriving. All day the city has been trying to keep people in the lines and subdued, but that's not how humans are. Eventually you'll get a few in a good place, having a good time, and chaos is going to happen. As things go off the rails more and more color is introduced into the film - the sedate business suits of the early evening give way to the plaids and colorful patterns of late arrivers - and everyone is noticeably having a much better time.
In the morning the party is over, but the color remains. The tour gets on their bus to head back to the airport, and the city is decorated as if for a party, with happy people (and children!) wandering all around. Perhaps it is the weekend or some other holiday. But regardless a relic of the previous day remains. The bus is trapped in a traffic circle.
Playtime is the most extravagant of Tati's films starring his Monsieur Hulot character. It was an elaborate and expensive production requiring the construction of a massive city set (Tativille) that ultimately drove Tati to bankruptcy, but the result is widely considered his masterpiece. A gentle satire and send-up of consumerism that pokes fun at how we fall into the traps of corporate messaging and mandates, but wants us to remember that to err is human and to have a good time is divine.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/29: One From the Heart
DREAM PROJECTS WEEK!
Francis Ford Coppola's passion project romance is our pick for Dream Projects Week, with a cast that includes Terri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinksi, and Harry Dean Stanton. Be sure to join us next week for our discussion of One From the Heart, available for rent from the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/23: Raya and the Last Dragon
Next up the podcast concludes its pairing on wildlife conservation with the latest Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon. Join us on Wednesday for our discussion of this film, available for (expensive) rent on Disney+.