French film maker Jacque Tati was voted one of the 46 great movie directors of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Tati's film career came after many other career explorations from his early rugby player days, to later being a mime, to film. His film career started in the 1930's, and although be did not direct more than 6 full length feature films, he surely made his mark on the industry through his unique ability to create visionary film that to this day we can appreciate.
PLAYTIME, a film by Director Jacques Tati is a masterpiece beyond its time. Tati's film from France debuted in 1967 and he played the character Mr. Hulot who was featured in his other films, such as MR. HULOT'S HOLIDAY. Another pioneer that you can catch this year at the festival. In PLAYTIME Mr. Hulot's character and American tourists explore a modern, version of Paris. The making of the film was one of the most expensive at its time and the set definitely illustrates this expense through its elaborate and enormous design creating what became known as "Tativille," mimicing his modern Parisian vision. 
When watching the film there is much going on that you may miss, since we do not see a clear story line, but several intertwining characters through various encounters and events throughout the day. Tati did not use close ups in his work, and drew the audience attention to particulars in a scene through audible cues. At first I was not sure what was going on being a novice film goer, until I grasped the concept of the larger purpose of the interactions Tati was creating, the influence of modern society, and the gaps we feel even more so today in the age of technology through the use of humour. We are governed by our modern society these days, emailing a co-worker who sits just a few offices down, connecting via facebook posts with good friends rather than a phone call or over a cup of coffee. We see how sometimes the processes we have created for order and functionality are not always that functional, especially in the comical scenerios we see in this film.
You can catch PLAYTIME on Sunday September 26, at the Globe 2:30pm, or to get a taste of Tati's earlier worker check out MR. HULOTS'S HOLIDAY on Saturday September 25 at the Globe at 2:45pm.