Playtime by Jacques Tati

In class this week, we look at a film by Jacques Tati, Playtime. As this is a history of architecture class, i shall attempt to analyze the film through an architect's eye. Although we did not get a chance to see the whole film, the beginning parts of the movie already gave us an overview idea of what Tati was trying to express. The film starts out in the airport. Already, the first shot was a big glass building (1). This building, although seemed futuristic at that time, would soon become an ordinary office-building nowadays. High rise buildings with pure glass facades and metal framing is quite ordinary in Bangkok. As you can see, there is not unique or distinguishing features in this building that could possible set apart with other buildings. While in the airport, we are introduced with a tour group of American ladies arriving in Paris (2). Already, one can see how everyone looks similar and is very conformed. We are then introduced to a character, Barbara, who is part of the tour group but views things differently than the others. Instead of taking noticing attractions, she notices little things that are ordinary or out of place. The tour guide then showed the ladies to a shopping complex-like places where new gadgets are being sold. Here we see that the buildings all look similar, very modernistic (3). We are also introduced to monsieur Hulot at the office building. He is then led to an all-sided glass room with this barcelona chair-like quality (4). What is amusing with this chair, is once seated the chair is foam-like and will take its original shape. Here i can really see that Tati is making fun of the modernist. Then the scenes of the cubical is displayed where everyone has their own little cubical (5). They all look the same and again, shows the idea of conformity within modernism. Ironically, it looks like how cubicles are today in offices. The final scene we saw was the shopping complex (6). In it, Tati really makes fun of modernism by showing a door that slams "in golden silence". I find this very entertaining and Tati really points out the obvious to people. Another amusing footage i find in this film is when Barbara sees posters of places around the world with the same building in it (7). Tati had went over and beyond what is necessary to point out that Modernism is universal and that it should (or shouldn't) be the main attraction of a place.