A screening of Play Time and The Making of Play Time.

In July’s Cinema Sunset (July the 7th 2009) the artist Laura d’Ors introduced the film Play Time by her favorite director Jacques Tati, who built an enormous set Tativille especially for this film. In her introduction d’Ors expressed her admiration for Tati’s grotesque approach to filmmaking. His immense devotion and perfectionism on the set, and his use of subtle, yet complex visual comedy supported by creative sound effects.

Play Time
Release: 1967
Runtime: 119 mins, (Making of Play Time: 6 mins)
Director: Jacques Tati

Synopsis
Tati’s famous alter ego Monsieur Hulot and a group of American tourists attempt to navigate a futuristic Paris constructed of straight lines, modernist glass and steel, high-rise buildings. In this environment, only the irrepressible nonconformity of human nature and an occasional appreciation for the good old days breathe life into an otherwise sterile urban lifestyle. While on his way to a important official, Monsieur Hulot gets lost in the maze of modern offices. The new industrial technologies, accepted as necessary by society, are represented by Tati as obstructions to daily life and an interference to natural human interaction.