Investigating the Influence of modern architecture on the mis-en-scene of Playtime

Every film inevitably takes place in an architectural space. Throughout the history of cinema, it is difficult to find works that do not contain any architectural elements. From this point of view, the use of architecture is very important in order to comprehend and understand a film. This study aims to investigate the impact of modern architecture on the mise-en-scène of the movie “Playtime”. The two main questions that this study intends to answer are: “How and by what elements modern architecture has influenced the mise-en-scène of the movie “Playtime”? and “How and why Jacques Tati has introduced modern architecture into the film?”Although architecture in cinematic works has always been present, the study of architecture about a film becomes valuable when the buildings used in that film have a particular and meaningful role in the film. The importance of the movie “Playtime” is that it seems impossible to understand this film, without considering the function of modern architecture in its mise-en-scène, and it is necessary to consider two basic conditions: familiarity with the language of modern architecture and acquaintance with the visual language of cinema, especially the function and meaning of mise-en-scène. Modern architecture, by its special features, has inspired Jacques Tati to use certain features in his mise-en-scène in the movie. The theoretical framework of this research is the functional similarity of architectural elements and mise-en-scène. At the beginning, a brief description of the historical course and features of modern architecture is provided, and then the theoretical issues of mise-en-scène and its overlap with the components of modern architecture are expressed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the function of modern architectural components in the mise-en-scène of “Playtime” with emphasis on their cinematic performance. It is modern architecture that, with its features, determines the proportions of the story. The results of this study indicate that Tati's visual comedies have fully exploited the potential of the use of modern architectural elements in mise-en-scène, comedies that are the basis of Tati’s satires on the inefficiency of modern architecture.