Trafic
Synopsis
Monsieur Hulot returns as a car designer who has created an innovative camping car (a station wagon full of gadgets) for the Altra automobile company. Accompanied by a truck driver and a publicity agent, Maria, Hulot embarks on a journey from Paris to an international auto show in Amsterdam to showcase his creation.
The film follows their eventful road trip, which is constantly interrupted by automotive mishaps, traffic jams, accidents, and bureaucratic complications. Through this journey, Tati presents a gentle satire of our relationship with automobiles and the increasing mechanization of modern life.
Notable Characters & Themes
Monsieur Hulot
Making his final major appearance in a Tati film, Hulot retains his characteristic awkwardness and bemusement in the face of modern technology.
Maria
The publicity agent for Altra, whose initial corporate efficiency gradually gives way to a more human connection with Hulot and their shared journey.
Automobile Culture
The film satirizes society's obsession with cars and the way they simultaneously connect and isolate people, creating a new type of social relationship.
The Journey
Through various mishaps and encounters on the road, Tati explores how unexpected detours often lead to the most meaningful human connections.
Technical Innovations
Trafic represents a shift in Tati's filmmaking approach while maintaining his distinctive visual style:
- Vehicle Choreography: The film features elaborately staged traffic scenes and automotive gags, with cars becoming characters in their own right.
- Location Filming: After the elaborate constructed sets of Playtime, Tati returns to more naturalistic settings, filming on actual roads across France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
- Sound Design: Tati continues his masterful use of sound, with cars producing a symphony of mechanical noises that both comment on and complement the visual humor.
- Visual Rhythm: The film's pacing mirrors its subject, alternating between fast-paced sequences and moments of stillness trapped in traffic jams.
Critical Reception & Legacy
Trafic received a more modest reception than Tati's earlier works upon its release, but has since been appreciated for its subtle humor and insightful commentary on car culture. Coming after the commercial failure of Playtime, it represents a more economical approach to filmmaking while maintaining Tati's distinctive vision.
The film is now recognized as a thoughtful epilogue to the Hulot series, offering a meditation on humanity's relationship with machines that remains relevant in our current era of technological dependency. Critics have noted how Tati manages to find poetry and humor in traffic congestion—a universal modern experience.
Trafic's influence can be seen in films that use vehicles as both setting and metaphor for human connection and isolation, and its satirical view of automotive culture anticipates many contemporary concerns about sustainability and urban planning.
Gallery
Notable Quotes
"I see the car as a form of misbehavior... It may be very useful to go shopping, but to build an entire society around the car is wrong."
— Jacques Tati on the themes of Trafic
"In my films, I always try to make people laugh while showing them something. Laughter is a form of instant vacation."
— Jacques Tati