Monsieur Hulot, filmmaker Jacques Tati's alter-ego, struggles with technological progress. Modern comforts seem cold and inhuman in a way which was unusual for the time at which Tati's movies were produced (e.g. Mon Oncle - 1958, Playtime - 1967) The films are caricaturing modernity and especially its architecture. Maybe Jacques Tati was too much a traditionalist?
Mon Oncle ("My Uncle"), 1958
Play Time, 1967
February 04, 2008
Weekly Architecture Clips, Part 3, Jacques Tati.
label:
film architecture,
video
by
Christoph ,anarchitecture
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3 comment(s):
Nice choice of director- I remember how Tati played with reflections a bit in Playtime- perhaps showing the extent of depth in a city whose city blocks had restricted such connection
It's been a while, perhaps I should see it again.
Mon Uncle, def offers a critique of modern domestic architecture, although the film starts with an equally comedic look at the alternative. Playtime changes the scale of that critique from the domestic to the city, but I've always thought that the final scene, with everyone careening around the round about like a merry go round was a sort of celebration of the transparency, reflection and chaos. I've always thought that while both films are poignant critiques, his attitude softens from the earlier film to the latter.
Great movie.
The scene with the garagedoor is hilarious.
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