| Director | Jacques Tati |
|---|
as M. Hulot in "Tativille"]]
Playtime is set in a hyperconsumerist mid-century modern Paris. The story is structured in six sequences, linked by two characters who repeatedly encounter one another over the course of a day: Barbara, a young American tourist visiting Paris with an American tourist group, and Monsieur Hulot, a befuddled Frenchman lost in the city. The sequences are as follows: * The Airport: The American tour group arrives at the ultra-modern and impersonal Orly Airport. * The Offices: M. Hulot arrives at an office building for an important meeting, but gets lost in a maze of disguised rooms and offices. He eventually stumbles into a trade exhibition of office designs and furniture nearly identical to those in the rest of the building. * The Trade Exhibition: M. Hulot and the American tourists are introduced to the latest modern gadgets, including a door that slams "in golden silence" and a broom with headlights, while the Paris of legend goes all but unnoticed save for a flower seller's stall and reflections of the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre in the building's front door. * The Apartments: As night falls, M. Hulot meets with an old friend who invites him to his sparsely furnished flat. This sequence is filmed entirely from the street, observing M. Hulot and other building residents through uncurtained floor-to-ceiling picture windows. * The Royal Garden: A fine dining restaurant has its opening night before construction has been completed. At the restaurant, M. Hulot reunites with several characters he has periodically encountered during the day, along with a few new ones, including a nostalgic ballad singer and a boisterous American businessman. The restaurant falls apart throughout the night as the patrons party. * The Carousel of Cars: M. Hulot buys Barbara two small gifts before her departure. In the midst of a complex ballet of cars on a roundabout, the tourists' bus returns to the airport.