Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Trafic Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 18, 2014

Nominated for Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, Jacques Tati's "Trafic" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The only supplemental feature on the disc is a new video piece with film critic Jonathan Romney. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"And this is how it works..."

Trafic is part of StudioCanal's Jacques Tati Collection Blu-ray box set. It will also be released individually on December 8, 2014.

Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot is on his way to an international auto show in Amsterdam where he is expected to present the Altra company’s newest creation -- an ultra-modern camping vehicle equipped with just about everything one could think of, from a built-in barbeque to an adjustable shower head. Also heading to the show is Maria (Maria Kimberly), the company’s fashionable PR representative. Hulot is traveling in a station wagon with the company’s manager, while Maria is driving her fancy sports car.

Soon after the truck transporting the camping vehicle leaves Paris, the Altra employees realize that this may turn out to be the worst trip of their lives -- first the truck gets a flat tire, then it runs out of gas and ends up in a massive traffic jam. Later on, at the border it is also seized by the Dutch police.

Hulot and Maria do their best to help as much as they can, but the more they try, the more problems they create. Meanwhile, the auto show in Amsterdam begins without the Altra company’s future hit.

Despite the massive chaos Tati’s final film with Hulot follows a familiar path -- its ultimate destination is well known and it is only a matter of time before Hulot and the viewer get there. This isn’t to imply that there aren’t any surprises in it, but the journey is indeed fairly straightforward.

While some of the best sequences feature Hulot, the camera does not follow him closely. He is part of the big chaos but frequently moves from one location to another while the camera is busy documenting an important event. In these sequences the movement is not as complex as that witnessed in Playtime -- Trafic had a much smaller budget and it clearly shows -- but at times it is still quite difficult to keep track of everything that takes place on the screen.

As it is the case with the rest of Tati’s films about Hulot, in Trafic there are various unique sounds and noises that are almost always a lot more important than the dialog. In fact, many of the best sequences are either completely free of dialog or feature only a few random lines -- the facial expressions and the bodies do all the meaningful talking.

There is plenty of humor, but the film also produces some serious observations about consumerism, the power of advertising, and people’s ability to communicate with each other. A few look dated, but the rest are still relevant today.

Initially Trafic was intended to be a collaboration between Tati and Dutch filmmaker Bert Haanstra, but after a series of disputes the latter left. A Swedish film crew which was documenting the shooting of Trafic helped Tati complete the film. One of its members was Lasse Hallstrom (Chocolat, The Shipping News), who directed his first feature film a few years after Trafic.

Trafic Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jacques Tati's Trafic arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

In terms of detail and clarity the new restoration has produced marvelous results. Indeed, regardless of whether light is restricted image depth is consistently enormously pleasing (see screencaptures #2 and 4). Contrast levels also remain stable throughout the entire film. The best news, however, is that there are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections -- grain is evenly distributed and beautifully resolved. Colors are stable and natural looking, but the tonal balance is a bit too warm for my taste. This being said, I find it suitable for the overwhelming majority of the film. Lastly, there are no encoding or compression issues to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Trafic Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with small portions of English, Dutch and Flemish). For the record, StudioCanal have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The film does not have an elaborate soundtrack, but there are all sorts of different sounds and noises that are used to enhance its unique atmosphere. The dialog is not always clear, but the cacophony that frequently overlaps it is part of the film's original sound design. There are no audio dropouts, pops, crackle, or digital distortions to report in this review.

Trafic Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Jonathan Romney - in this video piece, film critic Jonathan Romney discusses Jacques Tati's directing style, as well as Trafic and some of its unique qualities. In English, with optional French subtitles.(15 min).

Trafic Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I believe that most people who have previously seen Jacques Tati's Trafic on DVD will be very pleased with the new 2K restoration of the film. I have some minor reservations -- the film looks a bit too warm to me -- but detail and image depth are absolutely phenomenal. Trafic is currently available in StudioCanal's Jacques Tati Collection, but an individual Blu-ray release will be available for purchase later this year. RECOMMENDED.