Playtime | Jacques Tati’s Modernist Masterpiece on the Big Screen
Playtime invites audiences into a meticulously crafted, glass-and-steel Paris where Jacques Tati turns everyday life into a visual symphony of reflections, routines, and quietly absurd details. In this near-wordless masterpiece, Monsieur Hulot drifts through offices, trade shows, and nightspots that all seem designed more for machines than for people, revealing the humor and alienation of a city obsessed with modernity.
Through wide compositions, long takes, and intricate choreography, the film rewards patient observation, asking viewers to scan the frame and discover their own jokes and moments of grace in the background. What emerges is a gentle, slyly critical portrait of technological perfection colliding with human clumsiness, where missed connections and small gestures carry unexpected warmth.
This special screening at Teatro Santa Ana, presented by The Film Lovers Society, offers the chance to experience Playtime on a big screen, in French with English subtitles, followed by a post-film discussion with Amy Cotler. It is an ideal event for cinephiles, design lovers, and anyone curious about how cinema can transform the chaos of the everyday into something quietly poetic and unforgettable.
Organizer
The Biblioteca Pública de San Miguel de Allende, A.C. is a nonprofit cultural center and authorized charitable organization. Guided by principles of social justice, the promotion of the common good, and multiculturalism, its mission is to provide educational and cultural activities that foster harmonious integration within the community. The vision of the Biblioteca is to be a multidisciplinary and inclusive center that meets the community’s demand for training, information, and recreation, facilitating prosperity, peace, and free access to knowledge for all residents of San Miguel de Allende.
Venue
Teatro Santa Ana, located within the Biblioteca Pública at Insurgentes 25 in downtown San Miguel de Allende, is an intimate cultural venue with a rich and layered history. The building dates back to the mid-1700s, originally serving as a home for women and girls before becoming the city’s municipal slaughterhouse and, in 1958, a center for community learning. The theater itself was inaugurated in 1998, quickly becoming a beloved space for drama, music, dance, film, and special events. With its modern amenities and warm atmosphere, Teatro Santa Ana continues to foster artistic creativity and community engagement in the heart of the city.
