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| Trafic - Criterion Collection | 
 enlarge | Director: Jacques Tati
Actors: Honore Bostel, Marcel Fravel, Maria Kimberly, Tony Knappers, Francois Maisongrosse
Studio: Criterion
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $24.99
You Save: $14.96 (37%)
New (42) Used (6) from $24.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 6081
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 97
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: IMEDCC1756D
UPC: 715515030328
EAN: 0715515030328
ASIN: B00180R05O
Theatrical Release Date: 1971
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Can be enjoyed over and over again -the mark of a classic December 1, 2001
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I first saw "Traffic" years ago in a theater and enjoyed it greatly. Then, it vanished and was unavailable for a long time. When it emerged on VHS I bought it eagerly. My first viewing of the tape was something of a let-down. However, the second time I looked at it I began to understand it again and subsequently have continued to find it a delight -just as I did originally. His gentle observations of the Dutch are quite perceptive. This is not "Mon Oncle," of course, but to one who was around when the movie was made (about 1970) it does remind me of an atmosphere of openness and tolerance which lamentably is now gone.
They're all great! March 21, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I just hope this'll be out on DVD sometime soon. Some think this film is a bit too slow, or not as wonderful and inspired as the earlier films. That's kind of like saying Beethoven's 7th is not quite as good as his 5th or the Mona Lisa just doesn't have the same visual punch as the Last Supper. Jeepers, this is Tati we're talking about--a comedic genius who made uncompromising and meticulously crafted films, a guy who raised comedy to a height that no one since has dared or been able to match.
All that Tati requires of you is that you pay attention--not easy for many in this age. A lot of what happens on the screen is subtle and often complex. In a way it's like dealing with Shakespeare. I really don't recommend his films for those who like more overt and less cerebral comedy. Strangely, Tati films might work for some kids, the sort that get completely absorbed in a movie. Give it a try sometime and see what happens.
Trafic finally gets the presentation it deserves July 19, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you have made it this far, you will want to own this DVD. While not one of Tati's best, it is still an entertaining and charming movie. The extras alone are worth the DVD price: interviews with the cast and a fascinating interview with Tati himself, who reprises some of his best mime routines. Regarding the movie itself: I was stunned at not only the quality of the picture (sharp with bright colors), but the fact my VHS tape was missing about 15% of the frame on all four sides, not to mention having a horizontally stretched picture. So, aside from the much-improved picture quality, there is actually 15% more movie to see! Buy this DVD (and the others from Criterion, if you don't have them), and show Criterion that their efforts with regard to Tati are appreciated.
 The last we'll see of M. Hulot, and a melancholy farewell it is September 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
What can we make of Trafic, Jacques Tati's last film? It certainly isn't a major success, as M. Hulot's Holiday - Criterion Collection and Mon Oncle - Criterion Collection are. It's not a gallant failure, as I believe Playtime - Criterion Collection is. It seems to me that it is a sad, sometimes amusing combination of those things that made Tati so unique, so funny, so problematic and so drawn to making mundane social commentary. There must be something in the water we drink or the bread we eat that causes some humans with extraordinary artistic gifts to believe that because they are great artists they also must have equally great gifts of social philosophy, gifts which they are determined to share with us.
By the time Tati made Trafic, four years after Playtime, he had lost ownership of his life's work, his films, and most of his money. Playtime was a debacle. He spent a fortune, his own as well as others, to craft a perfectionist's dream of artistic control. He ended up with a movie that was filled with surprises, layer on layer of -- for wont of a better term -- sight and sound gags, with fascinatingly complex amusements for an audience willing to let the situations develop around them, and seemingly endless, obvious and often impersonal visual commentary on the homogenizing of modern society and the perils of technology. Most moviegoers were not all that interested.
Now, with Trafic, Mr. Hulot has come back. He is a designer for a Paris auto company, and he has developed a camping vehicle like no other. Trafic is the story of Mr. Hulot's delivery of his camper from Paris to an international auto show in Amsterdam. It's a long journey filled with misunderstandings, accidents and crashes, a PR executive with an endless number of dress changes, cops, windshield wipers and a lot of cars. The movie is as exquisitely built as an expensive vest pocket timepiece. Unfortunately, time has a way of catching us up, and Mr. Hulot now is a man past middle age, where male innocence seems unlikely and somewhat unattractive. Tati was 64 now, and he looks it. The gentle, innocent mime who meets unexpected personal situations at a small seaside hotel or tries to help his young nephew has been replaced by a well-meaning older gentleman we more often observe than we root for. His encounters with the cliches of faceless technology and bumbling bureaucracy are increasingly with people with few understandable, sympathetic foibles. Mr. Hulot to be at his best needs people we can come to like and interact with, not simply interchangeable stand-ins...even if they're picking their noses in the privacy of their cars (in a sight gag probably only Tati could have pulled off).
Mr. Hulot only appeared in four feature-length movies. It is Tati's genius that in less than 500 minutes he gave us such a memorable and appealing human being. Tati's layering of sight gags is unique and often intensely and unexpectedly funny. With Trafic, however, I found my interest more intellectual than anything else. There were stretches of the film that simply weren't all that engaging. And this, of course, is all just opinion.
Jacques Tati's movies are classics to be treasured. The Criterion two-disc release has a fine DVD color transfer and an assortment of interesting extras that include a major documentary on the Hulot character. There is a substantial essay on Trafic in an enclosed booklet. The author, Jonathan Romney, writes that Trafic has a melancholy quality. He's right.
This is a wonderful little film November 8, 2001
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a cute and at times hilarious film. Though it isn't quite as accessible or clever as some of Tati's other offerings, it can be every bit as enjoyable, provided you spot the jokes and can also enjoy well-employed subtlety. The final few moments of the film are particularly brilliant and truly tie the film together as a metaphor and a visual anagram for the traffic in all of our lives.
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