What I love about the M. Hulot character is that he is very fascinated by the world around him and this is a great scene that shows that off. I also love all the sound effects in Tati's films.
Amazing to think again that everything you see here is a set, even the street with the cars going past in the background and all the background buildings. No wonder it more or less financially ruined Tati
I agree. In my opinion, it's because the film is about modernism, and in many ways we are still living in that era. In the 1960s, the emergence of "modernism" in architecture and furnishings led to waiting rooms like this one all over the world, but especially in Western Europe and North America. This sort of bland and impersonal space -- uniquely disinviting and uncomfortable -- is now so ubiquitous that we don't even notice it. Playtime, however, is full of moments when the main character encounters them as though for the first time. That's why, I think, the film still grabs our attention.
This movie was made in 1967 and it's amazing how the camera looks cleaner without those grainy effects on screen. It feels really modern and aged very well compared to other movies nowadays.
This is partly a spoof on modernist formal values. Also a gentle satire on the aesthetic minimalism or streamlined sensibility of the 60s. It's as if Tati were an alien seeing our "modern" world for the first time. I like his "utopian" society. I love the simplicity and all the grey.
Yes,i t was Jacques Tati aim from beginning on his moviemaking, to show the sceptical aspects towards the modern achivements...I agree with you about the fascinstion of this clean ,utopia world and the grwy...although at the same time I like the opposite very much- and in my opinion, we need both for our mental health! :-)
Check out the whole wardrobe: the tiny hat, the short raincoat, the short trousers ( unfortunatly a very common fashion for men during the last years;-)..
![Jacques Tati - Play Time [1967] - The Waiting Room](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
