Trafic
Sep 29th, 2008 | By Rick | Category: Classic Cinema, Reviews
For better or worse, Jacques Tati’s cinematic fate was tied to his beloved character Mr. Hulot, a floppy everyman in a raincoat and high-water pants played by Tati himself. Hulot appeared in four of the six features he directed, beginning with M. Hulot’s Holiday in 1953 and continuing with Mon Oncle (1958), Playtime (1967) and Trafic (1971). Beginning especially with Mon Oncle, but evident in M. Hulot’s Holiday as well, Tati’s central concern is the dehumanizing effect of an increasingly technological age. Each film centers around Mr. Hulot’s gently bumbling character, but as the series progresses, they becomes increasingly distant from him as well, until inPlaytime and Trafic, he is a bystander in his own films. At the same time, in Holiday and Oncle he precipitates calamitous events by his bumbling; in Playtime and Trafic he is a bewildered witness to the dehumanizing forces within our technological era.
Trafic was his first film after the financial disaster that was Playtime, a film for which Tati had put up large sums of his own money. Although that film was a critical success — François Truffaut called it “a film that comes from another planet, where they make films differently” — its enormous cost and failure at the box office forced Tati to declare bankruptcy.
Because of this, Trafic has a modest budget compared to some of his earlier films, and instead of elaborate sets a la Playtime, it takes place largely on the roadways of Paris and the Netherlands. It follows M. Hulot, who is now an automobile designer as he accompanies one of his designs to an auto show in Amsterdams. Like his other features, that’s about all you can say about the plot. Along the way to Amsterdam, calamity ensues, and there is plenty of opportunity for Tati’s gentle, observational humor.
That humor is subtle — so much so that sometimes, you don’t even know it’s there. It consists of finely observed detail that, many times, looks perfectly normal, like something you would see on the street, but which is veers into the absurd without you even knowing. Often, you’re left looking at a piece of business that looks completely natural, as if it had evolved there on the sidewalk or by the roadside, but which in reality has been elaborately choreographed and staged. In one such sequence, a worker climbs up a ladder, while a second worker brings up some equipment on a dolly. When the second workman turns his back, a third … oh hell, here it is. Just watch it:
What is laborious to explain is effortless on screen: a fluid, very visual gag that’s just tossed off in passing. It’s not “buttoned” or emphasized in any way. There’s no musical clue to the proceedings, no pointing-out like “there’s a gag here, pay attention.” As a result, we have to pay attention on our own, which can make watching Trafic a consuming experience. And this is a paradox in a film that is so laid back on the surface, a film that’s so light that it seemingly just floats along.
In another sequence, gas-station attendants hand out historical busts as a premium for doing business with them. Notice how Hulot appears from in front of the truck as if he had been ejected from it.
I find the casual, hilarious surrealism of this sequence “Buñuelian” in the sense that it’s not announced or bracketed in any way, it just arises out of the commonplace. Compare that to the likes of David Lynch, who seems to have to announce “look, it’s surreal!” every time a dancing dwarf steps into the frame. Lynch counts Tati as one of his influences; he should have paid a little more attention.
Trafic is not Tati’s best film; though I haven’t seen his first and last features, it is certainly the weakest of the Hulot oeuvre. It seems a bit unfocused — there are too many excursions and distractions from the main thrust of the film, which is the journey to Amsterdam. I know this is probably blasphemy for such a beloved director, but ten minutes could probably be cut from its hour and thirty-six running time with beneficial results.
But all of this is really beside the point. Trafic is a lovely capper on one of the great comic series of the cinema. Although it is a certain cliche, it is very true that they do not make movies like this anymore. Nor, probably, could they. In today’s short-attention-spanned, eighteen-to-thirty-four-year-old market, there is little room for a gentle comedy with no chases, no explosions, and no masturbation jokes.
When Tati died, he was preparing to direct one last picture, the script of which called for Hulot to be killed accidently in the first act. Selfish as it seems — after all the man died — I am glad Hulot wasn’t killed off. For me, he remains fixed in time, the eternal everyman, meek and bumbling and — above all — human.
I’ll leave you with one more clip, as Hulot, which is [spoiler alert] the ending of the film. In it, Hulot who habitually never gets the girl, is nevertheless propelled back into the arms of Maria (Maria Kimberly) by a flock of umbrellas.
[For all you Tati-heads and Tati-head wannabes, TCM is celebrating his birthday October 9 with four of his films, including M. Hulot’s Holiday, Mon Oncle, Playtime and his first feature, Jour de Fete.
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Hi! Rick,
Thanks, for the (I)ntroduction to Mr.Jacques Tati and his work on film. I agree with you, the humor in his film(s) is very subtle. Nice review!…your wonderful “sense of humor” is very subtle too!…in your reviews…nice!
dcd
So, this is the only Hulot movie I don’t have. I think of all of them the first, Mon Oncle, is my favorite. I’ll be honest though, after the first viewing I have rarely watched them in their entirety again, choosing to watch scenes instead. And being a fan of mid-century futurist design I LOVE the house in Mon Oncle. I think I have about fifty screengrabs on my computer of that house. In my opinion, he was not only a surrealist but the last great silent film director. Oh sure, I know they had sound but like Modern Times has sound and dialogue but the basic style and delivery is that of a silent film.
By the way, there’s something amiss with the first and the third clip. They come up as too large and then stop halfway through. Could just be my computer, but the second clip is fine.
dcd –
Thanks — if you haven’t seen any of the Hulot films, you really should.
Jonathan, all three clips work on my computer here at work, and it has very little RAM …
Actually, M. Hulot’s Holiday was the first Hulot, date is 1953 vs 1958 for Mon Oncle. I have Mon Oncle and Playtime, but not Holiday or Trafic
I like Mon Oncle and the modernist house, but of the four I like Playtime best, it’s such a coldly-calculated monster, although Oncle is a close second.
And I agree — it’s very much a silent aesthetic, although with Tati’s own innovation … I read some critic somewhere (I think it was Crowley) who said that sounds in a Tati film are like aural “firecrackers” thrown in for effect.
As I noted, TCM is showing Jour de Fete, which I’ve been dying to see. Hope this means the Criterion is close.
Great post. Good information. I didn’t know about the loss of money after Playtime, but hearing that makes sense when watching Trafic. Playtime is so elaborate and pristine, Trafic is much looser.
Still, I love this film. I’m much more enthusiastic about it than you, and others I’ve read lately seem to be. I’ve seen M. Hulot’s Holiday (I’ve not seen Mon Oncle), but I was much less into it than these later two films. There is a sweet sadness in Playtime and especially near the end of Trafic that breaks through the subtle slapstick, and I really dig that.
Now, If we could only be treated to Parade. I think that film could be amazing.
Don’t get me wrong, Fox, I like Trafic a lot. If I were to rank the Hulot pictures, though, I’d go:
Playtime
Mon Oncle (by a hair)
M. Hulot’s Holiday
Trafic
But what a list that is … and I can’t wait to see Jour de fete on the 9th on TCM. (and before anybody says anything, this is NOT an ad for TCM. I’m just so excited to see this one).
< *Spoiler alert*> I really like it that he gets the girl in the end of this one.
I LOVE the end to Trafic. The moment where he decends the stairs to when he ascends as he’s lifted up by the umbrellas of others, to the wide overhead shot of them getting lost in that maze of cars together.
And that is very cool that TCM is giving him some time. I don’t have TCM, but bless them for doing so.
That’s why I included the third clip … it is a sweet ending to an ultimately sweet movie. I might have to swap out one tht follows it to the end, though … you’re entirely right about “getting lost in the maze of cars.” Technology swamps them and covers them up.
Ok, I’ve done it … the last clip above is now the entire ending of the film (spoiler alert). As Fox notes, instead of fading into the sunset, Hulot and Maria fade into the technological noise (the traffic).
TRAFIC is his weakest feature, but I agree those clips were indeed “Bunueliam” and the film has a strong ending and good color cinematography. The Criterion DVD has an excellently written booklet. Nice idea to focus on this French comedic icon.
I haven’t seen his first feature — Jour de fete or his last — Parade — so I can’t say if I think it’s his weakest feature, but of the Hulot movies it certainly is the weakest.