Architecture in film can also be used to illustrate a version of our present reality that might otherwise go unrecorded, making commentary on the oddities of our modern world. Such works as Mon Oncle or Playtime by Jacques Tati and Peter Weir's The Truman Show make us more critical of the state of our modern planning and architecture. They do this by removing the architecture from its traditional everyday context, such that it can be critically apprehended. In this way these films use plot and architecture together to make commentary on our cities, in the hopes of changing our future.
Playtime
The works of Jacques Tati reflect his general disenchantment with the modern world, centring on themes such as capitalist society's obsession with material goods, blind consumerism, superficial societial relations, and the cold, impractical nature of modern technology and design. As Tati was traditionally trained as a mime he demonstrates a unique relationship between narrative structure and cinematographic space. His works are a humorous, but lucid comment on modern architecture of the time. His plot structure is often very minimal, focused principally on the main character M. Hulot, a traditional Parisian, and a series of his uncomfortable and clumsy interactions with the modern world. For example, in Playtime Tati and a group of American tourists loose themselves in a modernist vision of Paris, where only hints of the classic city remain. As his narrative structure and plots are very loose, the characters become supplementary, such that the architecture often takes on the primary role.
In both works Tati uses contrasting architectural forms to accentuate the differences between the established form of Paris and the International Style of architecture. He uses stylistic devices such as the long shot, long take, and deep-focus photography to allow a higher level of audience participation and consciousness. In this way his films fill the frame with an abundance of details, figures and subplots, allowing one to observe the architecture of the set with greater attention. As such Jacque's Tati's Mon Oncle and Playtime are movies “where architectural material, matters pertaining to architecture, as well as to architecture's matter, has a starring role”[1].
In Playtime Tati fabricated an elaborate set, nicknamed Tativille, on the outskirts of Paris, which was used to represent an entire modern city. He focused on the nondescript features of steel and glass modern architecture, with Hulot often getting confused by their redundant forms. For example, Tati shows Hulot frequently getting lost in the circulation spaces around identical glass-enclosed offices. Furthermore, glass is shown as being deceptive and misleading, as an invisible barrier between the building's interior and the outside world.
Mon Oncle is another example of Tati's work that makes commentary on the state of modern society. In Mon Oncle, Tati contrasts the warm colours and sounds of a traditional Parisian suburb with the sharp cool colours and mechanical sounds of a modern suburb. He accurately reproduced a Parisian suburb from the 1950's and the peculiarities of the architectural and technological features are stressed to show their absurdity. The houses are pure white, cubic and terribly impractical in their design. For example, the front lawn is a series of outlined areas of lawn, walkway, garden and water, such that M. Hulot had to walk a long broken path to get to the front door. In this way Tati makes a parody of the authoritative position of the architect, as the dictator of the personal tastes and lifestyle of the client.
The Truman Show
In Peter Weir's film The Truman Show the plot follows Truman Burbank, who is part of a documentary or reality television show, that has him as the star. It has followed every minute of his life. The film shows his disillusion with his seemingly ‘perfect' life in the ideal town of Seahaven, where every aspect of his life has been scripted. All his family, neighbours, and friends are in fact actors in the largest television production ever. He begins to question his experiences and expresses a longing for a more fulfilling life.
This mistreatment of Truman for the pleasure of the television audience
makes a powerful commentary on our modern society,
how increasingly we replace real-life interactions with that of reality television and the extreme lengths to which it could be taken. It demonstrates how television can increasingly blur the line between fact and fiction, reality and drama [2]. As Weir stated:
''We're all plugged in. We're all there, the world is watching. We all watched the gulf war as if it were a television show. Cameras have gone in on everything. There's nothing strange now about hearing of a terrible accident, a child killed, and then seeing clips from his life because his parents shot video of the child. Like a movie. So strange." [3]
The film also questions our modern ideals and the superficial “good-life” promised by our North American suburban lifestyle. The architecture makes commentary on our modern way of life and the sprawl of our metropolitan developments.
The architecture of The Truman Show is particularly interesting, as it was shot in an existing New Urbanism development called Seaside in Florida. This four-hundred home development consists of unique buildings - however they each have very strict restrictions on building type, size and details. There are also strict regulations on how the front lawn, exterior decorations and gardens should be maintained. Thus, while this type of development is marketed as a “modern Victorian town with narrow streets, picket fences and homes arranged close together to encourage walking and neighborliness” [4] it is actually very contrived, presenting an ideal landscape that is entirely artificial.
1 Kahn, Andreas. “ Playtime with Architects ”, Design Book Review 24 (1994), pg 22-29
2 Weinraub, Bernard. Director Tries a Fantasy As He Questions Reality. New York Times, May 28, 1998 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E0D71539F932A15756C0A96E958260
3 Weinraub, Bernard
4 Seaside official website. http://www.seasidefl.com/
