Playtime Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Playtime Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 18, 2014

Jacques Tati's "PlayTime" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include selected-scene audio commentary by Stephane Goudet; archival documentary feature; selected-scene audio commentary by Jerome Deschamps; and visual analysis of "PlayTime" by Stephane Goudet. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The future

PlayTime is part of StudioCanal's upcoming Jacques Tati Collection Blu-ray box set.

Note: The following review was first published when Criterion released Jacques Tati's PlayTime on Blu-ray in the United States.

Gallic director Jacques Tati’s PlayTime is an outrageously hilarious film. It is also seriously disturbing. PlayTime follows the story of a mid-age man, Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati), who some may say looks a bit like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character Sherlock Holmes. The most obvious difference between the two is the fact that Holmes is a man of logic while Hulot isn’t.

PlayTime opens up with Hulot’s arrival at Orly Airport. Shortly after, we see him in a giant ultramodern office building in downtown Paris, where he attempts to arrange a meeting with an important businessman. This proves to be an incredibly challenging task as Hulot gets lost in the building. He also ends up causing some serious confusion amongst the people who work there. Eventually, he decides that enough is enough and leaves.

The outside world, however, proves just as challenging to Hulot. Together with a group of American tourists, he ends up in a chic night club where everything that could go wrong goes terribly wrong. In fact, things get so out of control that the club literally begins to fall apart. Of course, its guests love the show, and by the wee hours of the night most of them are having the time of their lives. Hulot does not. He attempts to help as many of the guests as possible.

It is a well known fact that PlayTime bankrupted its creator. It took director Tati nine years to complete it, which proved to be his most expensive project. When Play Time was finally released, however, it collapsed with a bang at the box office. Director Tati ended up selling its rights in order to pay off at least some of the money he owned to his creditors.

Criterion’s Blu-ray release of PlayTime contains the film’s 124-minute version. In the leaflet provided with it, renowned critic Jonathan Rosenbaum mentions a different version, a 152-minute one, which was apparently used for the film’s premiere in France. Unfortunately, however, director Tati was asked to recut PlayTime to its current 124-min version, before prints of it were sold to different French and international distributors. Mr. Rosenbaum also points out that a lot of the missing footage from the 152-minute version of PlayTime has been lost.

Filmed in 70mm, PlayTime is a grandiose spectacle. Detail, color and camera movement have to be seen to be believed. I know that this is a terribly overused cliche, but PlayTime truly deserves it.

PlayTime is structured as a giant collage of episodes in which there is a lot more happening than one could possibly follow. In addition to Monsieur Hulot, there are a number of other characters in PlayTime whose eccentric behavior is just as fascinating to behold -- an American woman on a mission to take pictures of the real Paris, a very confused porter, a rich American man who wants to party hard, a miserable waiter, a helpless drunk, a very pretentious French woman, etc. Often these characters are involved in hilarious gigs which one could easily miss because there are two, three, occasionally even four of them happening at the same time.

I do not wish to discuss PlayTime's message; this would be inappropriate. I believe that attempting to explain how to deconstruct PlayTime would only spoil its magic. One must experience the confusion, amusement and awe Tati’s vision of the future usually causes unprepared. Then, in order to truly grasp PlayTime, one must see it again.

Playtime Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jacques Tati's PlayTime arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The release uses as a foundation the new 4K restoration of PlayTime. Rather predictably, depth and fluidity are improved. Grain is far better resolved and distributed. The light halo effects that are occasionally visible on the previous restoration (2004) of the film have been eliminated as well, though I never found them to be distracting. Also, it appears that some new stability enhancements have been applied. With all of these positive improvements the new 4K restoration brings a drastically different color scheme. For example, the prominent metalic silver and cold blues from the previous restoration of the film have been replaced with notably warmer light blues, greens and yellows. Even the blacks have been adjusted and now much of the darker footage looks drastically different. More importantly, however, the overall color balance is very different -- compare screencapture #22 with screencapture #21 from our review of Criterion's first release of PlayTime and see how the green traffic light on the left side of the frame essentially becomes white on the new restoration. There are even more serious discrepancies during the first half of the film, where Monsieur Hulot gets lost in the large building. Here the metalic silver is no longer cold and intimidating while the light blues are simply missing. Unsurprisingly, the film's 'futuristic vibe' is also eliminated. During the second half the warmer color scheme is somewhat easier to tolerate (see screencaoture #18), but it is again easy to see that the color balance is off (the greens and reds are clearly destabilized). All in all, I have mixed feelings about the new 4K restoration of PlayTime. I like the improved fluidity and clarity it brings, but I am not convinced that the new color scheme is entirely appropriate. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Playtime Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0. For the record, StudioCanal have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the French DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 track and can confirm that depth is indeed better on it (when compared to the LPCM 2.0 track from the Criterion release). Some of the random noises are also handled differently (they are better enhanced and separation is different). For example, see and compare the sequence where the busy man from the building hits the glass door and then listen to the traffic noise (the sequence begins somewhere around the 44-minute mark). The dialog is clean, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no pops, cracks, background hiss, or distortions to report in this review.

Playtime Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Scenes with Audio Commentary by Stephane Goudet - writer/director Stephane Goudet (Tati Story) discusses the unique visual design of select scenes from PlayTime. In French, with optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• ABC Tempo - Tativille - this 1967 archival episode of the British television program Tempo International focuses on the pre-production history of PlayTime. Director Jacques Tati and cinematographer Jean Badal explain how specific scenes will be framed and filmed in Tativille (the unique city from PlayTime). Cast members also discuss the 'ordinary' characters they play. In English, with optional French subtitles. (26 min).

• Scenes with Audio Commentary by Jerome Deschamps - director/producer/actor (La séparation) Jerome Deschamps deconstructs select scenes from the film. In French, with optional English subtitles. (13 min).

• Like Home - The Laws of Hospitality - a visual analysis of Jacques Tati's PlayTime by Stephane Goudet. In French, with optional English subtitles. (19 min).

Playtime Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have mixed feelings about the new 4K restoration of Jacques Tati's PlayTime. I like the improved fluidity and clarity it brings, but I am not convinced that the new color scheme is entirely appropriate. The film looks very, very different now. This being said, StudioCanal's technical presentation of the new 4K restoration is excellent.