Playtime

Playtime sometimes written PlayTime or Play Time is a French comedy film, and is Jacques Tatis fourth major film, and generally considered to be his most daring film. It was shot from 1964 through 1967 and released in 1967. In Playtime, Tati again plays Monsieur Hulot, a character who had appeared in some of his earlier films, including Mon Oncle and Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot. As mentioned on the production documentary that accompanies the Criterion Collections DVD of the film, by 1964 Tati had grown ambivalent towards playing Hulot as a recurring central role. Unable to dispense with the popular character altogether, Hulot appears intermittently in Playtime, alternating between central and supporting roles. Shot in 70 mm, Playtime is notable for its enormous set, which Tati had built specially for the film, as well as Tatis trademark use of subtle, yet complex visual comedy supported by creative sound effects dialogue is frequently reduced to the level of background noise.

When possible, Tati cast nonprofessionals. He wanted people whose inner essence matched their characters and who could move in the way he wanted.The film is famous for its enormous, specially constructed set and background stage, known as Tativille, which contributed significantly to the films large budget, said to bemillion francs. The set required a hundred construction workers to construct along with its own power plant. Budget crises and other disasters stretched the shooting schedule to three years, including 1.4 million francs in repairs after the set was damaged by storms. Tati observed, perhaps correctly, that the cost of building the set was no greater than what it would have cost to have hired Elizabeth Taylor or Sophia Loren for the leading role. Budget overruns forced Tati to take out large loans and personal overdrafts to cover everincreasing production costs. ........

Source: Wikipedia