PlayTime 4K Ultra HD Review

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Overview: A Technical Triumph

Comedian and director Jacques Tati’s 1967 film PlayTime is, without a doubt, the filmmaker’s most technically accomplished creation. A complex satire on modern life in the post-industrial world, it remains a comedic extravaganza that elevates avant-garde cinema to breathtaking new heights. Nearly sixty years after its release, the film’s vision of a sterile, glass-and-steel future feels more prophetic than ever.

Production: A Costly Obsession That Bankrupted Its Creator

Taking years to complete, production costs for PlayTime eventually exceeded fifteen million euros. Upon its eventual release in France, the film was a catastrophic box office failure. The disastrous reception from audiences, who were bewildered by its unconventional structure, effectively bankrupted Tati. Today, however, that financial ruin stands as a testament to his uncompromising artistic vision.

Plot: Monsieur Hulot Lost in the Labyrinth

The film’s deliberately sparse plot revolves around Tati’s beloved, bumbling alter ego, Monsieur Hulot. He arrives in a futuristic, unrecognizable Paris to meet with a businessman, Monsieur Giffard (Georges Montant). Through a series of miscommunications, maze-like architecture, and persistent technical difficulties, Hulot wanders aimlessly through the city’s impossibly complicated glass and steel structures, utterly unable to connect with Giffard. The plot is merely a loose thread; the real focus is the environment itself.

Visual Comedy: Choreographed Brilliance

PlayTime is filled with a cascade of gags and brilliantly choreographed movements that propel the film forward. Tati stages multiple actions simultaneously within the widescreen frame, rewarding repeated viewings. While it is visually stunning, one aspect of the film that often goes unmentioned is its jarring yet hilarious soundscape of the modern world.

The Soundscape: Tati’s Forgotten Symphony

Recorded onto six-track stereo—a revolutionary feat at the time—the audio is a character in itself. Glass doors sigh and “pong,” high heels clickity-clack against marble floors, office gadgets beep and blip incessantly. Tati’s inventive aural landscape was not unlike something avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen might have conceived. It is abrasive, rhythmic, and impossibly catchy.

Unexpected Parallels: From Tati to Radiohead

Speaking of sound, every time I have revisited PlayTime in recent years, I cannot help but think of Radiohead’s OK Computer. Both works grapple with the alienation of modern transit, airports, and anonymous hotel life. Thom Yorke’s dystopian laments and Tati’s silent slapstick arrive at the same chilling conclusion: we have built a world of incredible convenience, yet we have never felt more lost.

Final Verdict: Essential, Exhausting, and Perfect

PlayTime is not merely a film; it is an immersive environment. It demands patience and rewards curiosity. While its lack of traditional narrative may frustrate casual viewers, those who surrender to Tati’s rhythm will discover one of the most joyous and sorrowful comedies ever committed to celluloid.

The Video

The 2009 Blu-ray for PlayTime from Criterion was inexplicably scanned from the 35mm reduction internegative of Playtime’s restored 65mm interpositive. This time around this 4K disc was taken from a 6.5K scan of the original 65mm camera negative, a 1967 internegative and a 2002 interpositive.  This time around we get a 1.78:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) SDR encodement to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. It looks stunning, with a lot more clarity and crispness than the 2009 Blu-ray. There are still some scenes that look a little softer due to the variations in source, but the consistency is quite strong regardless. Even without HDR, the picture offers excellent dynamic range and vibrant pops of primary color against the nearly monotone, cool, grey, metallic backgrounds.

The Audio

The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 surround mix was remastered from Jaques Tati’s final 1978 70mm 6-track mix. Every bleep, blip, and blurb of Tati’s modern soundscape is reproduced effortlessly on this release, which provides both the original French and International release soundtracks. Both versions are nearly identical, with the latter only adding slightly more English dialogue for international audiences. The sound is clean, full, and dynamic with hardly any harshness or crackle. Tati’s original intention was to create an engulfing mix that would be the match of his 70mm vision, and on that PlayTime succeeds, with panning of sound effects back and forth, and all manner of inventive sounds to capture the feel of the modern world. This release of PlayTime is proof that sometimes two channels can be just as entertaining as four or more.

The Supplements

This release brings over the supplements from the 2009 Criterion Blu-ray release. There is a change in the selected scene commentaries, however, where the 2009 Blu-ray release had seven selected scene commentaries by Philip Kemp, this one adds scene commentaries by Stéphane Goudet (2013) and Jérome Deschamps (2013).

• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the special features
• Introduction by actor and comedian Terry Jones
• Three selected-scene commentaries, by film historian Philip Kemp, theater director Jérôme Deschamps, and Jacques Tati expert Stéphane Goudet
• Like Home, a visual essay by Goudet
• “Tativille,” a 1967 television program featuring an interview with Tati from the set of PlayTime
• Beyond “PlayTime,” a short documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the production
• Interview with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot
• Audio interview with Tati from the U.S. debut of PlayTime at the 1972 San Francisco International Film Festival
• Tati Story, a short film by Goudet on the life and career of Tati
• “Monsieur Hulot’s Work,” a 1976 television program about Tati’s beloved character
• Cours du soir (1967), a short film written by and starring Tati
• Alternate English-language soundtrack
• PLUS: An essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Cover based on an original poster by René Ferracci

The Final Assessment

PlayTime is indeed a playful film, but its title is delectably subversive. Jacques Tati gave the world a glimpse of the isolation and chaos that the technological juggernaut could produce in a humorous way. The world had no idea how spot-on he would be; it didn’t know how great a film he had given it either.

This Criterion 4K release of PlayTime looks magnificent, finally giving the film a transfer deserving of a 70mm film. Regardless, the bonus features, quality of the material, and gorgeous picture quality make it well worth a purchase.

PlayTime 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray is out February 10, 2026 from the Criterion Collection

Details

• Rating Certificate: Not Rated
• Studios & Distributors: Specta Films | Jolly Film | The Criterion Collection
• Director: Jacques Tati
• Written By: Jacques Tati | Jacques Lagrange | Art Buchwald
• Run Time: 123 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: SDR
• Primary Audio: French/English DTS-HD MA 3.0 Surround
• Subtitles: English