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Review on Playtime movie by Jacques Tati

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  Jacques Tati's film Playtime is about an American tourist's journey to Paris on a European tour, and it's interesting to people involved in architecture and design in one way or another. The director shows not the classical architecture of Paris but faceless buildings of glass, metal and concrete, but in the glass we can see reflections of the Eiffel Tower and other iconic buildings and structures of Paris and the Parisian sky. He is ironic about the consumer society and these identical airports, exhibition centres and business centres which can be found in every metropolis where individuality is lost, but at the same time it is clear that this architecture appeals to him. The overall impression is also supported by the colours palette used - monochrome greys, blues, browns and blacks, suggesting uniformity, a lack of individuality and soul. Almost an entire city was built for the film, designed to be an image of 'modern' Paris. The city was nicknamed Tativille, a...
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Playtime Review by Maria A.

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"Playtime" (1967) is a comedy film directed by Jacques Tati. Despite being one of the most expensive films in French history, it was only released in 2002 due to financial failure at its time. This film is very unique in its absence of a plot and main characters. Instead, there is a show of different simultaneous incidents. The viewer observes the lives of the people of "Tativille" as a whole, seeing how baffled they are by modern technologies in a city of sterile and monotonous architecture.   The story behind “Playtime” moves back and forth between Monsieur Hulot and Barbara, an American in Paris. At the beginning Hulot is seen at a business center looking for the manager regarding a job position, however gets lost in the labyrinth of glass doors and walls in the building. We then see Hulot, Barbara, and other tourists at the trade exhibition, marveling at the latest gadgets. In the evening, there is a chaotic string of events at the most “fashionable" night ...
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The Playtime. Alina Soboleva L5

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  The Playtime film is a comedy by Jacques Tati and realised in 1967. And I want to write a review about design aspects in some episodes. After watching the film, I want to pay special attention to design and architecture.   The action takes place in France, we see it not as romantic and warm as everyone is used to.   The city is modern, has cold, metallic tones.   The rise of modernity.   I want to focus on the episode in the office.   There is a lot of concrete, glass, air, metal and plastic in this architecture.   Space takes on a new meaning, as even in offices there is a place for beauty.   It would seem that ordinary everyday things can look like a real exhibition, if everything is arranged correctly and air is added.   Also, the office space, which involves open space, is equipped with partitions.   This allows each employee to have a personal space, but at the same time, the hustle and bustle of the work perfectly supports the mo...
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Playtime review

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"Playtime" is a comedy movie, but through jokes and silly situations, it shows the viewer how people who are not used to new norms are confused and lost in modern realities. The film itself is about how a man comes to get a job in a business center and gets lost among the monotony of modern lifestyle and society in it. The "novelty" of modern cities is shown to the viewer through monochrome objects, plate glass, and steel, endless corridors, repeatable workstations, elevators, air conditioners. These details depersonalise the space so much that Hulot feels lost among the mechanical and not natural life inside the business center. Also, in contrast to the behaviour of the main character and the rest of the characters in the film, the viewer can pay attention to how absurd things familiar to us can look. The director ridicules the behaviour of the masses chasing fashionable places from postcards or opinion-inspired things that they will then be able to brag about to o...
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