Screening of Jacques Tati's modernist comedy 'Playtime' in French with English subtitles, with an introduction from a University of Oxford speaker.
Jacques Tati's Playtime is screening at the Ultimate Picture Palace on Tuesday 10 November, starting at 18:00. It's a modernist comedy that turns a supposedly perfect city into a playground of bureaucratic absurdity. As Monsieur Hulot and a group of American tourists navigate a maze of glass, steel, offices, shops and restaurants, the film gently skewers the utopian promises of modern architecture, consumer culture and technological efficiency, while finding unexpected freedom and human connection in the chaos. It's screened in French with English subtitles and rated U.
The screening opens with a special introduction from a University of Oxford speaker, so you'll get a bit of context before the film kicks off. It's part of the Laughing at Utopia film series, curated by the TORCH Humour Network alongside Oxford's oldest independent cinema, the Ultimate Picture Palace, which explores the playful and provocative relationship between utopia and satire. The series runs alongside Utopia Now!, a season exploring the role of the arts in making a better future possible.
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If you're heading down, the Ultimate Picture Palace is on Jeune Street, just off Cowley Road (OX4 1BN). The screening starts at 18:00 and runs for 2 hours and 25 minutes.
