Artist Trafic (1971)

After a great run of successes, director-star Jacques Tati gambled all his goodwill—and most of his personal savings—on the 1967 comedy Playtime, for which he built an elaborate set meant to replicate the sterile, officious city he felt Paris had become. The same critics and cineastes who were initially cool to Playtime were equally indifferent to Trafic, a more modest 1971 comedy featuring Tati's signature character Mr. Hulot as an automotive engineer embarking on a calamitous cross-continent trip to an Amsterdam auto show. But contrary to its reputation, Trafic is hardly a footnote to Tati's career. Though less visionary than Playtime, it also stands as a sly, low-key satire about the state of modern Europe, and where its real soul resides. 

Updated 02/03/2010