256 - Playtime

Eavesdropping at the Movies · Oct 23, 2020 · 39m

Jacques Tati's masterpiece, 1967's Playtime, is an extraordinarily ambitious work of visual comedy and social satire. Mike's been keen to see this for fifteen years or more, knowing of its reputation for detailed visual design and the 70mm cinematography that shows it off, waiting for the right moment. José, when Mike suggests we watch it, thinks he's seen it many years ago, but soon realises he was probably thinking of Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, Tati's rather more charming comedy of fourteen years prior, so it takes him a while to get into Playtime's rather more offbeat gear. And he is…