Playtime

Playtime (stylized as PlayTime and also written as Play Time) is a 1967 satirical comedy film directed and co-written by Jacques Tati. Tati also stars in the film, reprising the role of Monsieur Hulot from his earlier films Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953) and Mon Oncle (1958). However, Tati grew ambivalent towards playing Hulot as a recurring central role during production, and he appears intermittently in Playtime, alternating between central and supporting roles. Shot on 70 mm film, the work is notable for its enormous set, which Tati had built specially for the film, as well as Tati's trademark use of subtle yet complex visual comedy supported by creative sound effects. The film's dialogue, variously in French, English, and German, is frequently reduced to the level of background noise. While it was a commercial failure on its original release, Playtime is retrospectively considered Tati's magnum opus, his most daring work, and one of the greatest films of all time. In 2022, Playtime was voted 23rd on the British Film Institute's critics' list and 41st in their directors' list of "Top 100 Greatest Films of All Time".