Trafic

One of the last films Tati made with Monsieur Hulot. Hulot works as a designer for a car company. A vehicle has to be taken to a motor show in Amsterdam: a camper fitted with everything. They set off. Nothing on the road goes to plan. The truck breaks down, they are held at customs, there is a crash, the fuel runs out, and while the show is running they are still travelling. The subject is not the vehicle but the life built around cars. Long sections take place in traffic and Tati watches how people behave behind a wheel: picking their nose, looking at themselves in the mirror, arguing. The best-known scene is a chain collision. Cars run into each other, wheels roll away, bonnets fly open, and the scene turns into a ballet. The narrative is almost wordless; there is dialogue but it does not need to be understood. The humour is entirely in image and sound. Jacques Tati directed and stars. It was completed under difficult conditions, made after the financial failure of his previous film. A valuable production for anyone who likes visual comedy and Tati's cinema. For a viewer expecting a plot, it proceeds loosely and some sections are held long.