Traffic (1971)

The last of Tati’s features, “Traffic” is an adventure comedy. Mr Hulot, in his familiar trench coat is travelling from Paris to Amsterdam with a gadget filled prototype vehicle on its way to a car show. His driving companions, including Maria a public relations worker who becomes more casual and likeable as a result of the trails of the road travel, experience all that can go wrong on a road trip. This road movie is slightly more conventional than Tati’s previous work but still we see the geometry and non-natural colours which are familiar, as is the strange walking and beautiful objects that are present in his films. There are traffic pile ups, collisions and road rage. This is a satirical look at modern progress in particular cars and traffic congestion. There is an interesting scene of nose picking seen through many car windows and a nice final scene highlighting the similarities of windscreen wiper motion to the car owners who move slowly through a wet traffic jam. Cast includes Jacques Tati, Frank Ressel, Marcel Fravel and Maria Kimberly. Minimal dialogue in both French and English.