I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Tati's Playtime hardly encourages a deep sense of people as individuals - few of its dozens of characters are even granted a medium shot, let alone a close-up. The movie seems to warn of nothing less than collective obliteration - submersion into mass standardization, into absurd consumerism, into systems and surfaces that can only be stained by human intervention (and of course this is even before the online/social media revolution), into hopeless distance from basic pleasures (embodied by the American visitors to Paris who are kept well away from all its points of differentiation). Looked at a certain way, it can feel overwhelming, and even depressing - Tati's choreography is so staggering, often involving multiple bits of foreground and background action in the same shot, that it hardly seems designed for a human spectator. Of course, this is also at the heart of the film's inexhaustible glory, of its status as one of the most singular of all cinematic masterpieces. And Tati seeds his design with remnants of past humanity or portents of a future one - the sudden appearance of old friends, of mysterious near-doubles, of things that are just funny despite everything. The brilliant extended climax in a restaurant that all but gets destroyed on its opening night speaks to the capacity of collective action for transcending stifling corporate calculation. But it's also plainly a one-off, incapable of shaping the following day for more than a few dreamy early-morning hours. In one of its final gags, the movie posits that a moving window might actually influence the object that's being reflected in it - something that might have seemed like the ultimate loss of control, except that Tati presents it as an elating moment, a promise that all isn't yet heavy and tethered. Least of all, of course, M. Hulot, who returns to the crowd as modestly and mysteriously as he emerged from it.

Playtime (1967), written and directed by Jacques Tati and probably one of his most brilliant films, is one of a kind, an amazingly funny movie that drives rather on incidents of comedic value than a funny dialogue-based script. A sign of Tati's craftsmanship in using the language of film in its true form.Playtime is set in Paris, or a Paris that still needs to exist in the future. At first sight the landmarks of the city seem to be excluded although, if we are fast, we can see the reflections of these landmarks in the reflections of the so modern (for its time) glass and steel constructions of the buildings. Upon watching this film you get a high sense of incidental chaos although everything is very structured and layered. The modern world created by Tati is a chaotic yet structured ballet of the people living in it. There is no plot, no main cast and almost no audible dialogue. Tati rather chooses for a script in the form of funny incidents. He controls the viewer and creates a game of observation. There's hardly any dialogue, and the dialogue that we get is mostly inaudible. The comedic relief comes from the nonstop flow of the visual gags that keep happening on screen, something that only Tati masters. These aren't laugh-out-loud gags, but smiles of recognition.As mentioned earlier there are no main character in this movie although some stand out more than others, for example his own Mr. Hulot, an attractive American woman or a restaurant owner. It is as if Tati tries to trick us with this kind of technique. As movie goers we are trained to find the main characters and we empathize with their emotions throughout the movie though this won't work watching Playtime. Sometimes you lose the 'main' characters and find them again walking around the corner. All these elements make Playtime a movie that begs to be watched more than once to fully appreciate the art that Tati has created. The cinematography of Jean Badal and Andréas Winding show us only the big picture of it all, instead of close ups or reaction shots. This particular style gives you the opportunity to search action at the screen wherever and whenever you want. As a viewer you are almost played at with a game of hide and seek, you constantly want to know what happens in the background, the forground and behind the camera lens. Tati draws a strong contrast between humans, hopeful, and wondering through the impersonal and modern cities of the future. We see all these things happening before our eyes, not from someone's point of view but rather through the lens of the camera. Tati gives the movie goer the opportunity to make their own assumptions of the world he created. Although you can feel that the comedic touch of the film is actually his reaction towards these modern societies, the loss of a more personal city. Although the high production costs bankrupted Tati, Playtime is undoubtedly a magical and funny masterpiece that still holds up to its time. It shows that Tati is an artist as a physical comedy actor and visionary director.

Wow! I've never seen this. It's just amazing. I'm taking days to see it to savor it, just having a little each night for a simple dinner and Tennessee Whiskey.This is my favorite type of film.Does anyone know if Robert Altman and this director had any links?I feel like I'm watching Short Cuts.I want to see this in the original Cinerama Dome of Hollywood.I just don't understand the line requirement. I love this movie and will just try to send a good night, and I love you all who come to International Movie Data Based dot com.Love Brent Kliss

This is quintessentially the worst film i've ever seen. the pacing was so slow it was going backwards. the comedy in the film was duller than stagnant dishwater. the characters did less than nothing. and the subtitles would pick up on everyone's conversations instead of what was important.then there was the restaurant scene. THE GOD DAMN RESTAURANT SCENE. KNOW WHEN TO END YOUR SCENES MOVIE. this moment in the film dragged on forever. it also teased me horribly giving me hope that the place would burn down and end the film on a happy note. but no it frustrated even on this level. This film is so bad we should bury it under the ET video game cartridges.