It is time for a new Letterboxd List review! At a time when most Americans wished they were living in a different country, why not explore some international cinema? This week we look at the Letterboxd’s Top 250 International Films list, more specifically (as of this writing) #149 on said list…PlayTime (1967).
Title: PlayTime
Director: Jacques Tati
Released: December 13, 1967 (France)
Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
Available to stream on: The Criterion Channel and Kanopy
Barbara (Barbara Dennek) is an American visiting Paris with a tourist group. Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati, yes, he directed, starred in, and wrote PlayTime) is a native Frenchman who seems to be lost in the new and modern Paris that we are presented with. Over the course of a day, Barbara and Hulot continuously cross paths while having different experiences in the same city. While Barbara marvels at the modern offerings of Paris, Hulot feels lost in a world that has passed him by.
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Not much of a synopsis or anything to give with this one. In fact, there really isn’t even much of a concrete narrative either. Imagine a different timeline where Mr. Bean and Charlie Chaplin joined forces to make a toned-down comedy movie and you’d pretty much have PlayTime.
PlayTime (1967) is a wildly uneven movie. The first half had me invested and curious to see how things would play out. Then the second half happens where we get a dinner scene that, quite frankly, wore out its welcome rather quickly and became a bit of a chore to get through.
Where this movie shines though is its technical prowess. The cinematography, production design, and sound design are all phenomenal. There is hardly any dialogue, instead, we are given massive sets with a wide range of vision to take in the daily grind of city life and interactions throughout the course of a day.
There were times where I wasn’t quite sure where my focus in a scene should be because there was so much ground for my eyes to cover. Not a complaint, quite the opposite in fact. For it was the technical elements that got me through the slightly bloated two-hour runtime.
Full disclosure, this was my first Jacques Tati film. So, maybe I would benefit from watching some other Hulot adventures then revisiting this? Maybe not. Could be that PlayTime (1967) is one that I am not able to see what all the hype is about.
Well, how about you?
Have you seen PlayTime (1967)? If so, what did you think of it?
Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out to me on Bluesky and telling me all about it.
To see what else I’ve been watching lately, go give me a follow over on Letterboxd.