Trafic
Trafic
G | 11 December 1972 (USA)
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Mr. Hulot is the head designer of the Altra Automotive Co. His latest invention is a newfangled camper car loaded with outrageous extra features. Along with the company's manager and publicity model, Hulot sets out from Paris with the intention of debuting the car at the annual auto show in Amsterdam. The going isn't easy, however, and the group encounters an increasingly bizarre series of hurdles and setbacks en route.

Reviews
Sameer Callahan

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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Ezmae Chang

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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Cheryl

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Allissa

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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Ilpo Hirvonen

Trafic certainly isn't the last film by Jacques Tati, but it sure is the last successful and well known one. Mostly because it is his last film with his standard character, Monsier Hulot. After Trafic Tati still directed the television Sweden-France co production Parade (1974) and started making the sports-documentary Forza Bastia, which his daughter, Sophie Tatischeff edited and finished in 2002. But I personally like to see Trafic as his last film, as his cinematic legacy.The plot of Trafic is very simple; Mr. Hulot, car driver and the PR girl have to take a new car to an exhibition in Amsterdam. They arrive few days late - the only actual exhibition is at the customs. The world of Jacques Tati is full of gags, he doesn't spend much time with his stories, but he writes his gags for years. And the pleasantly surprising thing is how the gags are made - they aren't taken too far, as they often are in comedies of today. Dozens of events happen at the same time, dozens of people get in these and by coincidence they come across with each other.The destruction of old core values and habitat have been common themes for Jacques Tati. But in Play Time (1967) and Trafic (1971) he goes far deeper in the mechanization of life. Play Time showed us the futuristic Paris cursed by globalization. It would be too superficial to see Play Time simply just as a satire of urban living and modern society. In Trafic we see that Tati doesn't build that big a difference between urban and rural living. People come across with same kind of situations, troubles and madness. I think Play Time is his highest achievement and it's so much more than just a satire about modern society. In Play Time's postmodern Paris and in Trafic's highway the individual finds the very same challenges.Trafic is basically a satire about mass industry - cars are built and built so long until the consumers are satisfied, which will never happen. This is the age people live their lives with avarice. Just as Mon oncle so is Trafic about consumer hysteria - the customs scene is a great example of this. The mechanization of life is the main theme in Play Time and in Trafic - in Trafic, once again, the customs scene is the greatest example of this, but it can be seen in just about every scene. For instance the randomness of relationships, which is a reflection of the twisted relation between work and the mechanization of life.

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jalilidalili

I decided to write this review purely because I've red the one written by lapratho from Tacoma, WA, USA - and I totally disagree about this movie! Sorry to say I've bought it, not sorry that I've seen it, just sorry I can't erase it from my memory.There are a few laughs in this movie as well, although I would never sort this under the category of comedy.There are some very interesting shots with the camera, the storytelling aspect of this movie is at least interesting as it uses the motion picture as a new form of media - but the most basic component of any movie is missing... You will require a lot of will power to sit this one through from beginning 'till end and if you'll decide you need a break from it, the chances are, you'll never return to watching it.It's not a film you'd watch to pass the time, or be amused. It's a film that is trying to present a satirical point of view about certain aspects of life, so if you will be able to penetrate under the pointlessness you'd get from simply watching it, you might even get a few ideas it's trying to convey. But you really have to dig deep and just by watching it, it offers nothing which would make you want to dig deep into it, to get to the point.So a very low mark, as it is (at least in my opinion) an existentialist comedy that might work in the theater of absurd performed live (right after Waiting for Godot), but it doesn't work at all on film.

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hensroad

I didn't know what to expect when I went to see this movie many years ago. I was delightfully surprised. This is a very funny movie, but it is subtle in it's kookie-ness.Two men have developed a new camping van and have set out to take it to an outdoors show. This should be an ordinary trip full of coffee, donuts and long boring stretches of road. But no, this does not take place in America; it starts in Paris and the goal is Amsterdam. Much can happen along such a route, and in this case, just about everything does.Will they make it there before the show has ended? Will their dreams of being successful come to pass? These are the driving questions of this movie. They seem rather uninteresting goals, don't they? Nevertheless, these characters will likely win you over and have you rooting for them as they make their bumbling stab at entrepreneurship. Or, just as likely, you may find yourself enjoying every obstacle that steps in their way, as I did.Much is unexpected in this movie and that's what makes it fun! Share this one with your friends and they will thank you.Note: this is a comedy, there's not much gore or street fights, shoot-outs or bombs taking out city blocks, so be forewarned, this movie with not shake your subwoofer.Although not a spy movie, it somewhat reminds me of the original "Tall Blonde Man with One Black Shoe": another wonderful French comedy.

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Poul

With Traffic coming out I started thinking about one of the earliest films I remember from my childhood. Trafic must have a very significant impression on me as I vividly recall the frustration rendered by it. Sitting there as a child almost jumping out of the chair in plain irritation of the quirks of Tati.

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