Final Thoughts on Buster Keaton

I must start this blog entry with a correction. In my earlier blog which I posted yesterday, I discussed Keaton's short film "Hard Luck" had a missing scene with him jumping off a diving board and through pavement only to appear years later with his Chinese family. I stated this scene had been lost forever, however I just discovered yesterday by coincidence that the lost footage was indeed found and put on a newly restored version of "Hard Luck". To my astonishment I had this version of the film all the time in my "Art of Buster Keaton" box set. The definitive version of the film doesn't appear on the regualar DVDs but on the special features DVD which has other lost or alternative scenes from other Buster shorts. That's what I get for not watching my special features.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my month long tribute to Buster Keaton. I hope I made Keaton watchers out of all of you. He is still considered by many to be one of the greatest film makers who ever lived not to mention one of the greatest comedians ever as well. Many people fall under the impression that Keaton's career ended with the advent of sound. This is a false statement, while many silent actors found it difficult to make the transition to sound, Keaton remained popular, unfortunately for us film lovers, Keaton lost creative control of his films after he signed on to MGM. Keaton would remain a steady working actor for the rest of his life and sometimes he was a gag writer for the likes of W.C. Fields and The Marx Brothers, but his work would never equal his innovative days in the silent era.

Keaton was known as the Great Stone Face, never cracking a smile even when he was photographed publicly, but I would hope if he were alive today seeing all of us cinephiles admiring his films he might be smiling on the inside.

Stay tuned tomorrow for what I'm planning in February, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The Mini-masterpieces: Keaton Shorts

You cannot talk about Buster Keaton's body of work without mentioning his shorts. Keaton was still making short films long after his contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd moved on to feature films. According to Keaton's Autobiography, he wasn't considered a bankable enough star to carry an entire feature.

After studying a number of Keaton's shorts along with some of Chaplin's I would say, Keaton's come off the best. Chaplin seemed to be using his shorts to better refine his tramp character, while Buster used his to further experiment with camera techniques and show off his keen grasp of the sight gag. One of my favorites is the opening sequence of "The Goat". In it Keaton is waiting in the bread lines not realizing the men in front of him are mannequins. Then there is his early use of special effects in "The Playhouse". In it Buster is performing his own show at the local theatre where he is playing everyone involved. This includes an entire orchestra, to the conductor, to a stage hand, to the people in the audience. And this was years before people like Peter Sellers made doing multiple characters a common practice.

We can also see a number of gags that Keaton would use later to greater effect in his features. There is the famous sequence in "The Goat" where Keaton arrives in the front of a train engine in a very innovative close-up. You can't help but think of Keaton hanging on for dear life in front of a train engine later in "The General".

However, Keaton's shorts were not as well preserved as his features, which has caused some now infamous missing scenes. The most famous is probably the climactic sight gag in "Hard Luck". In it, Keaton's character, determined to end it all jumps off a diving board into an empty swimming pool. But instead of killing himself he breaks through the ground. Years later he comes back to the exact same spot this time with his newly aquired Chinese family. Keaton has called this scene the funniest he has ever done. The closest we have gotten to see the real thing comes curtesy of stilled images of Keaton with said Chinese family.

Most of Keaton's shorts have a running time of about 20 minutes and none of them seem too short or too long. They do what short films are suppose to do and that's leave you wanting more. Keaton knew exactly how to end on a high note.

SHERLOCK JR.: WHAT MOVIES CAN DO

I have a tough time talking about any one movie from a great director, I always think "why not choose this one, or that one?" To pick a favorite movie, particularly by a man such as Buster Keaton would be unfair to the artist. Keaton's films belong as a group and should not be thought of as separate entities. However I do not think I could sit here on my computer and compose an entry on every single film he's done, (if I had time however that would be an ideal situation for me). So in a way I am picking one of his masterpieces "Sherlock Jr." for the people who have never seen a Buster Keaton film just to give you a little taste of what you're missing.

"Sherlock Jr." runs about 45 minutes, which probably makes it along with Bunel's "Un Chien andalou" and countless Warner Brothers Cartoons as one of the shortest masterpieces in film history.

The first time I saw "Sherlock Jr." I thought I was watching a magic show. I didn't know what to expect, I had seen Keaton films before, but this one sounded a bit different. It's the story of a film projectionist who one day falls asleep while watching a mystery movie and then imagines himself on the screen as the famous detective Sherlock Jr. The idea is a simple but ingenius one. In the short time he is given, Keaton pretty much sums up that film is capable in doing anything, in other words there are no boundaries. Keaton is in control of his own destiny, he makes up the rules and the rest follow him, this of course sets us up with some of the most inventive and memorable gags ever.

The one scene that still has me baffled every time I see it is when Keaton, in order to escape from some jewel thieves jumps through the stomach of his assistant and then through a fence. The shot doesn't seem to have any cut aways, so I don't know any other way this is accomplished, not that I mind, I always have my mouth in open wonder when I see this performed, and part of me who loves the mystery of movie making just doesn't want to know.

The film itself is a surreal exercise with a bit of absurdity in the end. The sight gags such as Keaton jumping out of a window which is rigged with one of his disguises is priceless. The jewel thieves run out to chase him but instead find what looks to be a ragged old woman. Then there is the memorable climactic chase with Keaton on the handle bars of a motor bike being driven by no one. To watch this scene is to watch sublime comedy to perfection.

There are still some people who choose not to watch Keaton, or Chaplin, or The Marx Brothers simply because they are old. Supposedly if they are old they are not funny, or what was funny back then is no longer funny now. This nonsense can only be attributed to (and forgive my harshness) ignorance. What Keaton has shown us with "Sherlock Jr." it's that movies can do anything and it would be a hard sell indeed to try to convince me there is a comedian or even a film maker out there today who has created a world as clever, insightful, and hilarious as Buster Keaton.

Lacks Emotion

"Emotional Arithmetic" has everything going for it, terrific actors playing deeply wounded characters, rich visuals, and a compelling little known story about the holocaust, so why was I left cold at the end?

The film is the story of Melanie Winters (Susan Sarandon) who as a child was held in an internment camp known as Drancy which was on the outskirts of Paris. Drancy was usually an away station for people who were to be sent to death camps. However Melanie is saved after a man named Jakob switches her name with his. Now all grown up Melanie is living in Canada with her husband David (Christopher Plummer) and she has a son (Canadian actor Roy Dupuis) and Grandson, however she is forever plagued by the memory of Drancy and Jakob and the young boy Christopher whom she fell in love with while staying there. These memories have caused Melanie to become unstable which lead to her having nervous breakdowns.

Then out of the blue, Melanie gets word that both Jakob (Now played by Max Von Sydow as an old man) and Christopher (Gabriel Byrne) are coming to visit. Melanie now has to deal with unresolved issues with her past as well with her husband and son. We learn that Jakob has survived the death camp but at a price, due to constant shock treatments done on him his memory isn't what it used to be, and he also no longer writes which is something he did before. Christopher still carries a torch for Melanie and he always felt their relationship was left unresolved.

Director Paolo Barzman definitely has a great visual eye, many of the outdoor scenes are breathtakingly beautiful, however I felt his direction for the actors wasn't as crisp. For all purposes this should've been Sarandon's movie, she is given so many great moments to be this emotional anchor and at some crucial times she is very effective, but I sensed her overacting an bit and in that way her character never comes off as believable. In the role of Christopher, Byrne isn't given much to do other than remind Melanie of what they had before, he comes off as too passive, but I don't think that is his fault, the whole Christopher/Melanie relationship never gets the kind of payoff it so rightfully deserves. I felt Dupuis was also in the same boat, his character may have been the most understanding or perhaps the most wounded as the son of Sarandon who has to put up with her eccentric behavior but that is never examined for us.

However the two characters we come to understand are the ones played by Plummer and Von Sydow, I would almost recommend seeing this movie just to see these two old pros play off one another. As Jakob, Von Sydow gives us a sad shadow of a man who doesn't seem to remember many of the things Melanie has dedicated her life to not forgetting. It's a tragic and subtle performance. As Melanie's literary professor husband, Plummer plays David as a bitter man trying desperately to compete with his wife's tragic past.

There were many good scenes in "Emotional Arithmetic" but to look at the film as a whole, it was disappointing, it ends with a whimper, and I felt it was headed for something a bit more substantial.

Incidentally "Emotional Arithmetic" is a Canadian film which debuted in September at the Toronto Film Festival. I'm not sure if it has been released wide around North America yet but I believe I read of an April release date.

2.5 stars out of 4

Big Monster Small Scale

At the end of "Cloverfield" I heard a lot of moans and groans at the theatre. "That sucked" said one guy sitting near by. As a side note, sometimes I just don't know what people want from their movies, is it me or are they sometimes more happy with just a routine formula film. Anyway I guess "Cloverfield" isn't the kind of movie worth getting all worked up about. For the record I found it very enjoyable, the handheld camera movement was a sometimes distracting gimmick that wore out its welcome by the end, but I gotta say there were a few really scary edge of your seat moments.

"Cloverfield" begins with a going away party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David) while his best friend Hud (T.J. Miller) is video taping the event. But things are interrupted by the arrival of a very big very scary looking monster who invades New York City. While everyone is evacuating, Rob goes through the city to rescue his trapped on again off again girlfriend.

Other than the hand held camera technique, there isn't anything new or special "Cloverfield" brings to the monster movie genre, we still get a bunch of stock characters like the good looking hero, the damsel in distress, and the wise cracking best friend, along with some other characters who are there for the soul purpose of getting killed off. I did not get involved with their lives that much. But the reason to see a monster movie like this is to see the monster, but the film goes the "Jaws" route by not showing the full thing till near the end. What we do get are fragments and blurry visions of the beast as it devours New York. Perhaps that is what got most people so irate at the end, I don't know, personally I think that aspect works, it makes the creature more mysterious and frightening. But I think the most chilling points involve the monsters tiny off which kinda give off a zombie effect if they bite you...woops was that a spoiler?

"Cloverfield" is like a coming attraction for the summer movie crowd, and something to get excited about in the dull January release schedule, but from what I heard coming out of the theatre I could be wrong.

3 stars out of 4

IT'S ON!!!!

Well the Oscar nominations are out, and the two most critically acclaimed films of the year "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will be Blood" received the most nominations with 8 a piece. Now that's something to cheer about. As Chigurh would say, "Call it". More later.

R.I.P. Suzanne Pleshette

I found out this morning that Suzanne Pleshette passed away at the age of 70 today. Pleshette is probably best remembered as the wife of Bob Newhart in one of the greatest sitcoms ever "The Bob Newhart Show", but movie fans probably best know her as the doomed school teacher Annie Hayworth in Hitchcock's "The Birds".