Tati. Tati has a very small filmography but was certainly a style-plus director with a distinct look and a tight marriage to mise-en-scene and comedic architectural set-up. The consistency in his work is worth more than someone who had a higher scoring filmography but made films that could have been directed by another craftsman. Tati films are Tati films. I’m also very close to a masterpiece on both Mon Oncle and Playtime. I’d be surprised if another visit of each doesn’t take them from strong “must-see” (typically reserved for the best 5-8 films of a year) film to “Masterpiece” (typically reserved to the top 1-3 movies per year depending on the strength of the year).
Best film: Mon Oncle– it’s a more narratively polished than Playtime and I think the satire and meticulous arrangements are nearly as good. It’s a wonderful film.
total archiveable films: 5
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 3 (Mon Oncle, Playtime, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday)
top 100 films of the decade: 3 (Mon Oncle, Playtime, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday)
most overrated: Playtime is #46 all-time on the TSPDT consensus list and I’m a couple hundred spots below that. That said, I’m really excited for the next viewing.
most underrated: Mon Oncle is #416 on TSPDT and since I’m basically saying it’s a masterpiece this is underrated for me.—I’ve got it at 276.
gem I want to spotlight: Mr Hulot’s Holiday. This is such a gentle, funny, and nostalgic movie. I think it’s essential viewing if you’re a fan of Mon Oncle and playtime.
stylistic innovations/traits: Like Keaton and Chaplin before him Tati has both trademarks as an auteur and as a comedic performer. As a performer he’s got his pipe-puffing silent dead-pan persona (much more Keaton than Chaplin- who is more emotive). Tati kept silent cinema alive (with some genius-level sound additions to his films) 40+ years after The Jazz Singer. He’s wed to mise-en-scene and set design in general. He’s a formal innovator, clear perfectionist, and has a profound wisdom working in social satire.
top 10
- Mon Oncle
- Playtime
- Mr. Hulot’s Holiday
- Traffic
- Jour De Fête
By year and grades
| 1949- Jour De Fête | R |
| 1953- Mr. Hulot’s Holiday | MS |
| 1958- Mon Oncle | MS |
| 1967- Playtime | MS |
| 1971- Traffic |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Here’s how I understand “Playtime.”
“Playtime” is to comedy
as “Once Upon a Time in the West” is to westerns
as “2001: A Space Odyssey” is to sci-fi
All three up the ante of their genres to an unprecedented level. They end up being disquisitions on their genres as much as they are representatives of their genres. You want to travel in space? Let me show you how boring it can be. You want Wild West? Let me show you the fly on the nose, the senseless cruelty. You want jokes? Let me show you how they are constructed, in excruciating detail.
All from the late 60s. Audiences of the time thinking “I’m going to see a comedy/a western/a sci-fi movie” were deeply disappointed. What they got instead were works of art by masters of their craft, each one saying, “oh yeah, try and top this.”
@ Drake. Have you had a chance to revisit Playtime or anything by Tati.
Playtime’s reputation continues to grow. Firmly inside the top 50 on the recent TSPDT update.
@AP- I have not. My plan is to do it this summer- I’m finishing up a Rohmer study and then plan to re-tackle some Tati films. I owe it to my good friend Mr. Matt Harris to get to this one again before updating the top 500/1000.
@Nathan — really well put. My buddy Matt Harris would agree with you. I don’t mind sharing that I was quite struck by the images when preparing this page. I look forward to my next rewatch.
I have to push you a little on Playtime, unfortunately sitting at #284 of all-time. Its formally copacetic and features a radiant production design but its Tati’s ravishing mise-en-scene, one of the most muscular uses of mise-en-scene in cinematic history that stands amongst the strongest exercises in that category and transcends the film to all-timer masterpiece status.