Monsieur Hulot (Tati), doing battle with objects, observes a group of American tourists on their peregrinations around the Paris of modern office blocks and skyscrapers. They end up at the opening of a nightclub which is far from ready. The only glimpse of old Paris the tourists receive as they scurry through the extraordinary metropolis of glass and concrete designed by Eugene Roman, is on postcards. Tati’s use of space has probably never been equaled. As the critic Noel Burch has written, it is the only film that must be seen "not only several times, but at different distances from the screen."