This is the third feature length film I've seen by director Jacques Tati. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing.
Play Time
Play Time was originally filmed and shown in 70 mm film. Everywhere I read about this film says it must be seen in this format to be truly appreciated. So while I didn't have that opportunity, I tried to keep that in mind when watching it on my standard sized television set on standard DVD format.
This was Tati's master endeavor and he put so much time and money into it, it bankrupt him. But we can enjoy the results of his sacrifice. He was bankrupt because he created entire massive sets. An entire city basically. And choreographed full events with multiple elements filmed from every angle. There is not much of a plot or main character. There is just observations of scenes with many different characters. I'm told that if there is any movie that must be seen more than once to be fully appreciated, it is this movie because there is no way to see everything that is worth watching in the frame in one viewing. That's not to say that just watching it once isn't worth it. It's not like most movies that need to be watched twice to understand because they are so convoluted that you can't figure out what's happening until you understand every character and angle. On the contrary. You will understand and be delighted by so many things the first time around, that you will be excited to see it again because you assume what you missed is just as good as what you were absorbing the first time around. This is just my impression though. I could see how some people might find this boring if you aren't in the right frame of mind. I felt tempted to fall into that trap as well. But as when watching any Tati / Hulot film, it's best to just observe and enjoy and not expect to be too caught up in any big plot.
Jacques Tati:
Total feature length films seen: 3
Previous average film score: 9
New average film score: 9
Rating: 9/10