Trafic
Posted by martinteller on September 19, 2008
Widely regarded as the weakest of the Hulot films, and although it’s not horrible, I have to agree. There are some really good gags here, but for every two of those there’s one that’s a dud. Trying to shoehorn the character into a more conventional storyline doesn’t entirely fail, but it doesn’t succeed that well, either. Hulot don’t play that… Tati’s at his best when his films leisurely flutter about, not when trying to get from point A to point B. The peripheral American female is also a more annoying character than her Playtime counterpart, Barbara. And a roving pack of hippies pulls a prank that’s distastefully cruel and feels entirely out of place. Still, it’s not a bad way to get a Tati fix, although little of the humor springs from Hulot. The camping car is a brilliant piece of work, and some of the antics at the convention measure up to Tati’s best. Rating: 6
