"Playtime" (1967)
written and directed by, and starring, Jacques Tati


124 minutes 27 seconds
Colour
1.85:1
audio: French, English
subtitles: English, Chinese, Japanese


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.


EXTRAS on Disc 1
1. video introduction by writer, director, and performer Terry Jones
2. selected scene commentary by film historian Philip Kemp
3. booklet scan (four TIF files)

EXTRAS on Disc 2
1. "Au-delà de 'Playtime'" (2002) - a short documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the production (7m)
2. "Tati Story" (2002) - a short biographical film (21m)
3. "Jacques Tati in Monsieur Hulot's Work" (1976) - BBC Omnibus program featuring Tati (49m)
4. audio interview with Tati from the U.S. debut of Playtime at the 1972 San Francisco International Film Festival (17m)
5. video interview with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot (12m)
6. "Cours du soir" ("Evening Classes") (1967) - short film written by and starring Tati (28m)