Trafic
Synopsis
Mr. Hulot (Jacques Tati) is the head designer of the Altra Automotive Co. His latest invention is a newfangled camper car loaded with outrageous extra features. Along with the company's manager (Honoré Bostel) and publicity model (Maria Kimberly), Hulot sets out from Paris with the intention of debuting the car at the annual auto show in Amsterdam. The going isn't easy, however, and the group encounters an increasingly bizarre series of hurdles and setbacks en route.
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.