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Playtime (The Criterion Collection)

Rated:
Unrated
Format: DVD
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
IMDb6.3/10.0
Additional DVD options Edition Discs
Price
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DVD
May 22, 2001
The Criterion Collection
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$40.53 $33.18
Format Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Contributor Tati, Dennek
Language French
Studio The Criterion Collection
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Product Description

Insert booklet included.

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.78:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ Unrated (Not Rated)
  • Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 2.93 ounces
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ May 22, 2001
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Tati, Dennek
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Language ‏ : ‎ French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Criterion
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00005B1ZM
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
26 global ratings
Case was broken and slip cover was not attached. Rude customer service. Do not buy from this seller.
1 Star
Case was broken and slip cover was not attached. Rude customer service. Do not buy from this seller.
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Top reviews from the United States

D. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars A Startling Movie of Life and Joy
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2001
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Playtime by Jacques Tati is a remarkable movie. It is a comedy and sweet commentary on the perseverance of man even when immersed in a city of steel and glass. For this last Hulot movie, Tati leaves the Paris of the Seine and places us in the 1960 emerging Paris of modern towers and thick transparent doors. In Playtime we not only follow Hulot, but a number of characters within this maze of stunning industrial architecture.
While predominately thought of as a comedy, Tati in Playtime attempts to answer larger questions than a fumbling Hulot is able to muddle through alone. Through each character we see into and around the impersonal technology that revolutionized our lives and environment. Playtime doesn't ask why this happened, but it does ask how can we live in this cold cacophony where our ideals become only reflections in a door.
One supposes that the answers have something to do with the young photographer trying desperately to take the picture of a flower vendor absurdly juxtaposed outside a stark gray office tower while remarking, "this is Paris". Or maybe it exists within the dilemma of choosing a prepared meal under a bright neon sign which makes all the food ghostly green. On the surface we see the humour and below we feel the exquisite simplicity of Tati's whimsically rigorous proof of life.
Playtime is a gift of sight and sound that should not be missed. It is medicine of the most wonderful taste and a vicarious curative for any person in these modern times.
6 people found this helpful
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Dalton
1.0 out of 5 stars Case was broken and slip cover was not attached. Rude customer service. Do not buy from this seller.
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2022
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Dalton
1.0 out of 5 stars Case was broken and slip cover was not attached. Rude customer service. Do not buy from this seller.
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2022
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Glenn A. Buttkus
4.0 out of 5 stars City of Mirth
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2005
Jacques Tatischeff changed his name to Jacques Tati in the 1920's when he worked in the French Music Halls. In the early 1950's, he began to develop a character that would ultimately become his alter-ego-Mr. Hulot. Tati sculpted Hulot from the toes up-an umbrella carrying, pipe smoking raincoat-clad funny hat-wearing Everyman in argyle socks. As he moved he defied gravity-almost off balance as he lurched about-yet graceful as a dancer.

PLAYTIME was the third in the Hulot series. He bankrupted himself shooting it in 70mm on a stretch of land he had to lease-constructing a whole city set-which came to be called Tativille. He wanted the polished chrome and glass look for all the buildings-and could not find them consistently in the real Paris. Tati took great artistic chances. Dialogue was incidental-almost feeling improvised. He shot it in all medium shots, mostly without specific dialogue-as a tip of the hat to Buster Keaton and silent films. The zany action had to carry the plot-similar to the recent French Anime-THE TRIPLETS OF BELLVILLE (2003).

He postulated that the future would be a place of shiny surfaces and deadly conformity-just huge towers of ticky-tacky that would all look the same. He suggested that modern society is trying to delete or destroy all the vestiges and symbols of the past. In this film, one only sees the landmarks in Paris as reflections in great glass windows. The complex and long Royal Nightclub Scene became a masterwork of mayhem-choreographed precisely. We were bombarded with multiple sight gags that all happened rapidly-even simultaneously. Tati paved the way for directors Richard Lester and Robert Altman to handle crowd scenes effectively-brimming with overlapping action and humorous asides.

It took some energy to watch this film carefully. It could require multiple viewings to totally appreciate all that occurred within the frame. Tati completely reinvented comedy within silence-and made us love it. His routines ranged from broad slapstick to subtle bits of business with props and people. He taught us that there is a plethora of unintended humor surrounding us-if we would only pay attention to it-and take the trouble to allow ourselves to be touched and tickled by it.
6 people found this helpful
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S. Day
3.0 out of 5 stars What are their criteria, exactly
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2002
I don't propose to write lengthing about Tati's masterpiece; I shall merely reiterate that Playtime is the 2001 of comedies.
My issues are with the quality of presentation on the DVD.
The transfer of the mono mix of the 35mm print of the film is as good as can be expected, and the subtitling adds another dimension over the International version, picking out "key" bits of dialogue (although none is essential). The sleeve notes explain that the location of the original elements, and thus the 65mm negative and stereo (or quadrophonic!) soundtrack have been lost, for the time being, but I urge you not to be put off by this.
It has already been discussed that some 4:3 material has been flagged as anamorphic, such that a television will stretch out images that should never have been stretched, causing some problems with subtitles being distorted. This is annoying and sloppy, requiring a manual correction when viewed each time; a moron in a hurry should have spotted this error, and I am very diappointed that Criterion have not been more punctilious.
Further, the very end of the film is supposed to be a fade to black while the music keeps playing to the end; there is about 30s overlap there. However, on this transfer, the music fades out as soon as the film is over. This gives the film an abrupt ending which has a very different effect to the proper version, as released by the British Film Institute on VHS in the UK.
Having said that, I urge you still to buy this disc, as it is good enough to get a high quality of this great film into your home. I am just disappointed at Criterion.
21 people found this helpful
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LakeKids
5.0 out of 5 stars Ten stars for this one!
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2011
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This is a masterpiece! What a shame it didn't get the recognition it should have!The attention to detail, the subtle humor- if you like Tati you have to have this! If you've never seen his films, go for it! You can certainly see the influence he had on the later Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) character, but Tati is the master. There is a short film included "Cours du Soir" Night School and in it is a short segment he presents on fishing that is worth the cost of the movie all by itself! By all means enjoy it!
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SG penn
5.0 out of 5 stars Whimsical and fun
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2013
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When I first saw this movie, I thought I wasn't going to like it because it doesn't really have a substantive plot. But when I decided just to go with it and enjoy it, I ended up really liking it. I found this movie delightful and the title makes me think that the director/writer was having fun with it. Enjoy it as something different.
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