TEHRAN – The Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran will screen the 1967 satirical comedy “Playtime” directed and co-written by Jacques Tati on Monday.

The film screening is set for 6 p.m. at the Nasseri Hall of the IAF and will be followed by a review session in the presence of the film critic Mohsen Kheymehdooz.

“Playtime” is set in a hyperconsumerist mid-century modern Paris. The story is structured in six sequences, linked by two characters who repeatedly encounter one another over the course of a day: Barbara, a young American tourist visiting Paris with an American tourist group, and Monsieur Hulot, a befuddled Frenchman lost in the city.

Tati also stars in the film, reprising the role of Monsieur Hulot from his earlier films “Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot” (1953) and “Mon Oncle” (1958). However, Tati grew ambivalent towards playing Hulot as a recurring central role during production, and he appears intermittently in “Playtime,” alternating between central and supporting roles.

Shot on 70 mm film, the work is notable for its enormous set, which Tati had built specially for the film, as well as Tati's trademark use of subtle yet complex visual comedy supported by creative sound effects. The film's dialogue, variously in French, English, and German, is frequently reduced to the level of background noise.

While it was a commercial failure on its original release, “Playtime” is retrospectively considered Tati's magnum opus, his most daring work, and one of the greatest films of all time. 

In 2022, “Playtime” was voted 23rd on the British Film Institute's critics' list and 41st in their directors' list of “Top 100 Greatest Films of All Time”.

SS/SAB