PlayTime

I just can’t stop looking at the screen. Like I gotta remind myself that there’s a kind of a story going on (emphasis on “kind of”) and I should pay attention to that first, in a really great way if that makes sense. So much to love and enjoy here; this was another one of those that I was worried would end up being too full of itself or too much of just a 60s French film, in a negative way of course. Instead, I was so entertained by everything happening and every filmmaking aspect complimenting it perfectly. The wide comedic framing that makes every visual gag land perfectly, the slightly dystopian production design usually deployed for grim atmospheres but instead deployed for physical comedy, those amazing cardboard cutouts that end up making this Where’s Waldo x1000. Jacques Tati has these elements beautifully in tune with his satirical future and all the awkward shit he can come up with. The sound is also surprisingly detailed and important for something made in 1967. Like Robert Altman’s best films, Tati overlaps dialogue to the extreme without it ever feeling too overwhelming or incomprehensible. It makes you wanna go back again and again not just because of visuals, but how many great background conversations you missed. I even had no concrete idea who the fuck Mr. Hulot was before this and I still loved it.