Playtime & Monterey Pop

Playtime by Jacques Tati

  Playtime is basically the documentation of a 'modern' world set in Paris.  The film captures how people function in this modern world and interact with it's  products, specifically Monsieur Hulot and the American tourists. The buildings, furniture, windows, doors, clothing, and even the travel advertisements are industrial, some are not functional (such as the chairs) but it is all considered modern.
  Kent Jones's article on the film states that it was a result of Jaques Tati's strive to create a, "supremely democratic film that would be able 'everybody'". Jones also discusses the extremes Tati went to to build the set for Playtime.  From the set being so large it had its own, "power plant and approach road" to Tati having it shot with the expensive 70mm format camera. I didn't know that it took ten years to make the film, but I wasn't completely surprised because the sets they create for each scene, and the overall motif of the film, seems very meticulously put together to achieve the feel of a  impractical "modern life"of Paris and it's people.


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Monterey Pop by D.A. Pennebaker

 Monterey Pop is a documentary of the 1967 music festival in Monterey, California. The documentary focuses on the people at the music festival, the setting of it and the musicians that performed there, capturing the culture of the sixties. It's lively and intense with emotions. Armond White, author of "Monterey Pop: People in Motion" says this even was an instance of "people in motion" because of the, "loose, give-and-take" accounts between, "spectacle and spectator". Meaning, the  honest emotions of the audience resulting from the performers and the general atmosphere of the event. White makes note of the way the documentary was filmed in regard to the camera work, with close intimate shots of people and the, "long, hand-held shot". The cinematography really captures the spirit and mood of the event.


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Comparison of  Playtime & Monterey Pop:

   Both movies attempt at illustrating a modern world. However,  Playtime does so intentionally and Monterey Pop's purpose is not to reproduce specific accounts of modernity, but to document humanity at the time, and just so happens to reveal modern life. Everything in Playtime was organized, attempting to be perfect, but bland. It also seemed that the city and everyone it in was interested in the future and the most modern and newest things.  In Monterey Pop the complete opposite is happening. People were interested in only that specific moment. The people and performances are spontaneous.  Playtime  is so strict, while Monterey Pop is  fluid and natural.  Both movies capture a "cultural phenomenon". But their cultures are structured so differently. There definitely is a sense of Monterey Pop in the restaurant/dance scene in Playtime, when things start to get really wild and unpredictable. But since the purpose of that scene was to show the lack of function and sustainability their modern furniture/life had, I think Tati also expressed that in the actions of the dancers in that scene, who like the restaurant were breaking free from something.
  The way each was filmed is also  distinct to the  atmosphere being conveyed. Whereas Playtime was shot with expensive cameras to capture the most intense, "clarity and depth" Monterey Pop was obviously filmed with a handheld camera a majority of the time and  goes in and out of focus. The mood for Monterey Pop is more important than the aesthetic, and it's just the opposite for Playtime.
  In regards to what we discussed in class about Modernism, I'm thinking of the magazines shown. How David Carson's designs for Ray Gun magazine were modern, but in a completely different way than the the more clean and traditional magazine displays we looked at.
 Overall, both depict modernism is very different ways, but both convey the significance modern trends had on effecting people and lifestyle.