4/5 Tati's last film
  by H. Jongenelen (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
This is for the fans of Jacques Tati. It certainly isn't his best film, but definitely a must. Tati directs and plays his caracter Monsieur Hulot, who has to bring a new car model for a car show from Paris to Amsterdam, with some difficulty off course. I think the film belongs to your Tati collection, next to Jour de fete, Les vacances de M. Hulot, Mon oncle and (the ultimate comedy) Playtime. Here also the main caracter moves reluctantly in a society ruled by machines in which people allways seem to go nowhere fast. The car crash towards the end is more a ballet of cars moving around eachother, not the usual car accident. I only could find the dvd version on amazon.com

4/5 Hulot's Last Holiday
  by Joshua Miller (Coeur d'Alene,ID)
After going bankrupt with the disappointing Playtime - Criterion Collection, Jacques Tati brought back his Monsieur Hulot character for one last outing in Trafic.

While Playtime poked fun at modern architecture and its alienating effects on the people confronted by it, Trafic simply explores the effect that cars have on people. It's a much more simplistic film than its predecessor and, I believe, a better one.

In Trafic, Tati's Monsieur Hulot is the director of design for the auto company Altra and it is his job to transport his new, elaborately designed automobile to an auto show in Amsterdam. Of course, nothing goes as planned beginning with the fact that the car must be transported in the back of a truck that frequently breaks down or runs out of gas at the most inopportune moments. The car is, of course, nothing too simplistic itself. It's a "camping car" complete with fold-out chairs, a table, two twin beds, a stove, cigarette lighter, and a whole lot more. Trafic also features a jazzy musical score reminiscent of M. Hulot's Holiday - Criterion Collection.

As with Playtime, there's not much plot to speak of but, remarkably, Tati still makes his point clear with a never-ending stream of sight gags and the like.

One of the factors that I think makes Trafic better than Playtime is the less serious tone. It has a much breezier pace and it's more colorfully vibrant than the gloomy gray of Playtime.

As with all of the Hulot films, Tati doesn't use close-ups. He lets the camera linger back allowing Hulot and whatever other character may come along to be lost in the chaos of their misadventures. And the aforementioned misadventures here are brilliant; the car-crash scene and subsequent hilarity that ensues is delightful and well choreographed.

Besides the endless gags about cars; Tati also incorporates many jokes involving animals. These are some of the high-points of the film, particularly a scene in which a group of kids steal a dog and make up a fur-coat to look like the dog before lodging it under the tire of a car. Then there's Hulot trying to convince the devastated owner that it's not actually her dog. Tati wraps up his film with a brilliant shot of umbrella-toting people walking amidst a bunch of cars.

I like to compare Tati to Chaplin and it is true that Hulot would have existed comfortably with the Little Tramp. However, while the Tramp's exploits were simple, yet laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreaking; Hulot's are much more complex and silly. Tati was probably a better filmmaker than Chaplin, but Chaplin was much funnier and more personal. There will be times while watching Trafic when you have a smile glued to your face and you're marveling at the sheer genius of it all. Entertainment wasn't always a weapon Tati wielded, but the man did have a knack for staging wonderful, elaborate sight gags that likely required both money and extreme attention to detail.

Inferior to the original Hulot (mis)adventure, Trafic is worth seeking out. The Hulot character may have made Tati bankrupt, but with Trafic the man departed with his character on a high-note.

GRADE: B+


4/5 Tati was a genius
  by John Legry (Portland, OR USA)
Not Jacques Tati's best film, his last, manipulated by an insensitive studio, to the point that the great auteur was not fully engaged. However, his genius still shines despite the low budget and less than noble support of studio executives. One must suspend plot to become an attentive observer - as much occurs in the background and around the edges as in the foreground. This film is a gestalt - a whole environment that frames Tati's signature Mr. Hulot character, who travels through the world in a bemused land of Mu daze. Ever helpful, ever friendly, ever beating a hasty retreat from leathershod feet and less sensitive souls (pun perhaps intended). Expect the unexpected and expect to laugh. You won't be disappointed.

5/5 Enjoyable, funny, whimsical, entertaining
  by A C SHIELDS (melbourne , australia)
All of Mr Hulot's actions make us think. Jacques Tati had the gift of making us look at the world and asked all of us 'do we really need to be so serious all the time ?' . This is the reason why I enjoy Tati's work as it makes me ponder that question. This DVD edition is comprehensive and takes the viewer beyond the movie itself, giving them a fuller appreciation of what Tati achieved, with both the character of Mr Hulot and as an artist.

4/5 Stuck in Traffic
  by Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States)
My initial reactin to "Trafic" was disappointment. I was really expecting something with more and better humor. As I write this the following day, I'm reminded of the title and realizing that the film is better than my first impression. What I failed to absorb last night was the overview of motor vehicles in our modern society. While bemoaning the limited slapstick humor, I was missing the social satire. Dozens of new realizations have been coming to me this morning not the least of which was the use of a broken down truck to transport a state-of-the-art vehicle. Gradually the various scenes of drivers reacting to their boredom, the engineered chaos of parking lots, the domino effect of one vehicle failing to follow the rules, the failure to recognize simple sollutions when everything else is so complicated, the adoration we have for bigger and better modes of transportation, etc began to sink in. My second opinion is better than my first but this only raises "Trafic" from Good to Better. I cannot give it 5 stars because, frankly, too much of the film is spent setting up some rather mediocre scenes that fail to deliver. Maybe the humor was still stuck in traffic.