MovieChat Forums > Playtime (1973) Discussion > something I might have missed

something I might have missed

posted 22 years ago by madtus
28 replies | jump to latest

I like the movie, especially the mood it spreads. I'd like to know if there might be a little gag or something I have missed. I watched it about 5 times and each time I found something new. What about you? Which thing did you discover only after multiple viewings? What about the silent sequence with the 2 apartments where the people watch TV? I didn't quite get that. What did you enjoy most? I liked the sequence where Hulot has to wait in the waiting room and examines the chairs and everything.

[–] printphi 13 years ago

What a wonderful idea for a thread. I also didn't quite get the people watching TV in two apartments, maybe because I'd already spent years watching the picture windows in the high-rise building opposite mine. It just seemed much, much, too long.

One thing I noticed that I don't think has been mentioned: It may be a trick of the light, or it may be because so much in the film is gray/black/white, but there are several places where it seems that some of the scene is filmed in black and white while the rest is filmed in color. I saw this in the beginning hospital scene, where people in the distance looked like they were in black and white, and as they got closer, they were in color. I also saw it when M. Hulot is in the drugstore where he meets the doorman who brings him to the restaurant. At first, he and the man next to him are in a green reflected neon light, which makes them look like they are filmed in black and white.

I agree that it would have been better to see this film in a theater. I'll watch for it.

[–] nextwooden 13 years ago

I may have noticed this because I just saw Mon Oncle but before the TV scene, Hulot and his friend wipe their feet multiple times just like in Mon Oncle.

As I saw the TV scene, all four apartments looked almost like a giant TV that we are watching. Just my $.02

"You paid for parking? For me?"

[–] mainstream72 13 years ago

there are many people standing still in the background like they where cardboard cut-outs
also the living room scene is a beauty
its transparent and open when they are watching the tv, people react as if they are watching each other
and the react to what is going on in the opposit room

@( . Oo . )@ --" I cant remember to forget you!" (memento)

[–] offramp_tavanipupu 13 years ago

They are cardboard cutouts.

[–] mainstream72 13 years ago

ok does seem logical, but how do you know this?

@( . Oo . )@ --" I cant remember to forget you!" (memento)