still from Playtime (Jacques Tati, FR 1967)

Playtime (70mm)

Jacques Tati / FR, 1967 / 125 min.

Tati’s magnum opus: Monsieur Hulot becomes entrapped in a cold, mind-numbing Paris replete with steel and glass architecture, an increasingly dehumanised world. The director chose to use the widescreen, 70 mm format to capture the modern city’s sense of alienation.

Tati had good reason to opt for wide, 70 mm films: he primarily filmed wide shots that his characters seem lost in. for the shoot, Tati had a city built nearby Paris, ‘Tativille’. He invested his entire capital in the production, yet saw his efforts unappreciated by contemporary audiences and critics alike. Monsieur Hulot’s modest role and Tati’s ambitions (‘I am for the individual in a rapidly dehumanising world’) met a cold reception. Nowadays, Playtime is generally accepted as Tati’s masterpiece.

This is part of

Eye Classics

Director

Jacques Tati

Production year

1967

Country

Original title

Playtime (70mm)

Length

125 min.

Language

French

Subtitles

NO DIALOGUE

Format

70mm

Part of

Eye Classics

Eye’s collection includes a wealth of classics. We screen them regularly, in various programmes. Eye now brings film history even closer with its new series Eye Classics: three classics a week, chosen by Eye's programmers. On the big screen, screened in 35mm whenever possible.

Learn more