Catching a sneak preview of Marc Forster’s adaptation of
Zach Helm’s Stranger Than Fiction recently
brought multi-hyphenate Jacques Tati’s inventive, splendidly choreographed 1967
comedy Playtime surging back to the
forefront of my mind, and it’s no coincidence. Forster confirmed in a
subsequent interview that Tati’s film was an aesthetic inspiration for his
vision of the new Will Ferrell movie (opening November 10), which charts the psychological
dislocation of a man who starts hearing a narrator describe his life in
intimate detail. The movies would in fact make an interesting double bill one
day, but enterprising film aficionados can program it themselves later this
fall courtesy of Criterion’s fabulous new double-disc DVD release of the former.
Movies about confusion and displacement amongst surging new technology
are nothing new, but Playtime represents
a particularly strong entry in this canon, at least from an purely expressive point-of-view.
Set in an ultra-modern
of disorienting skyscrapers, sterile glass structures and impersonal offices —
the movie comes on the heels of 1953’s Mr.
Hulot’s Holiday and 1958’s Mon Oncle;
Playtime likewise follows oblivious bachelor
Monsieur Hulot, contrasting his simple outlook on life with the complex rhythms
and bustle all around him. Mon Oncle
was the director-star’s first work in color, and while perhaps representative
of the pinnacle of his achievements, it also sparked a desire to return to
simpler forms. Ergo the minimalist Playtime,
in which Hulot tries in vain to keep a simple appointment in the urban jungle,
only to repeatedly cross paths in bumbling fashion with a group of female American
tourists.
Tati Story, a miniature biographical
film about the titular director. Both hint at the grueling production schedule
of the film, which shot over the course of several years. Film historian Philip
Kemp offers forth scene-specific audio commentary, and while his dissections
tend toward the academic, they do so in right fashion.
Also included is a 50-minute, 1976 (and thus somewhat dated)
episode of the BBC series Omnibus
that examines Tati’s Hulot pictures. Of most interest, though are a 17-minute
audio interview with Tati himself from the 1972 San Francisco International Film
Festival and a 12-minute chat with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot, who
discusses at length Tati’s interesting techniques. Cours de Soir, a short film of Tati’s from the same year, wraps
things up nicely, along with an insert booklet that includes an essay from
Jonathan Rosenbaum. B- (Movie) A- (Disc)