Trafic

Jacques Tati made his final appearance as M. Hulot, that curious bystander to the follies of the modern world, in this minor comedy classic. This time the gangly eccentric in the mechanized world is the designer of a gadget-laden compact camper who takes his creation to a car show in Amsterdam. It's a movie constructed from cinematic interludes, an automotive comedy of traffic jams, fender benders, border crossings, mechanical breakdowns and other motor-driven distractions, all played out like an abstract silent comedy (the dialogue is mere flourish), with the lively soundtrack a symphony of honks and hums and mechanical noises. While it never reaches the delicate brilliance of his masterpiece "Playtime," it's a pleasantly playful film with marvelous sight gags and brief moments of comic poetry. Criterion's two-disc edition includes the 1969 documentary feature "In the Footsteps of Monsieur Hulot," the half-hour "The Comedy of Jacques Tati" (made for French TV in 1973), and a 1971 TV interview with the cast of "Trafic," along with a booklet with a new essay by film critic Jonathan Romney.