Through the rumbling years, we find another way to laugh

Clemens 2021-12-09 08:01:20

Ashamed, this is the first sneer Keaton movie I have ever watched. After reading it, I found out that my favorite "little figure tragicomedy" Stephen Chow and "Kung Fu star" Jackie Chan were, to some extent, "learned from" Buster Keaton.

This movie also made me realize that in that silent film era, there were still comedy masters who could rival Chaplin. Unlike many comedians, Keaton never pretends to be ingenious, nor does he act too exaggeratedly and jokingly, nor deliberately appears funny, but integrates his own performance and storyline into one, allowing viewers to be clever Smiles are produced in plot settings and dramatic conflicts. In "The General", there are various critical moments, but Keaton will always deal with emergencies in a rush but calmly and tactfully, every time he can turn into good fortune, instead of being like ordinary Comedy movies try to please the audience by making a fool of yourself. He has his own understanding and acting style of comedy. Keaton once commented on himself like this, "Chaplin’s tramp is a idler and has a set of idler logic. He is cute, but he steals things whenever he gets the chance. . And this little guy of mine is an honest worker."

Speaking of the movie, the dispatch level of the train chase scene and the battle between the two armies is first-rate. The plot is ingeniously set, combining comedy, love, war, and action. The rhythm is well grasped, and the lens language is also very exciting. , The two most impressive scenes-the train crashing into the river and the horse galloping. It is said that the lens in the train crashing into the river cost 42,000 US dollars at the time, which is the most expensive lens in the silent film era.

It is worth mentioning that in the movie "The General" I saw the deep integration of character emotions and film and television pictures. Keaton combined his comedy performances with the mechanical device props of trains very well, and the interaction between people and things was just right.

Keaton’s outstanding performance can be said to have made an excellent film. He wrote, directed and acted himself. It is said that it took only 8 weeks to complete the improvisational shooting, especially the series of flips on a moving train. The action, without a substitute in person, is enough to reflect Keaton's dedication to the film.

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Extended Reading
  • Brandy 2022-04-20 09:01:41

    Great comedy of the era...a shot of a train falling into a river cost $42,000, which was astronomical at the time

  • Mckenzie 2021-12-09 08:01:20

    This was a hugely-produced super-luxury action comedy of that era, but it also had such a fair and rigorous symmetrical narrative structure. Keaton knew that visual spectacles were only auxiliary and could only be effective if they had a solid script and jokes.

The General quotes

  • [last title card]

    Title: Heroes of the day.

  • Annabelle Lee: Aren't you going to enlist?