Buster Keaton Marathon

I had the privilege of going to a Buster Keaton silent film festival recently in a historic movie theatre.  I was very excited to go and was not disappointed.  The films were accompanied by a local pianist who composed the music himself and it was truly a joy to behold.  I was very happy to see the turn out for the film as it was much higher than the Godzilla double feature that they had at the same theatre before.  I was also happy to see how many people brought their kids for this once in a lifetime experience.

We got to the theatre a little late due to the hour drive and me getting away from work late, but we still got pretty decent seats, even if they are very very old and uncomfortable seats.  It's a really neat old theatre that still boasts a balchony.  The pianist got up and introduced the films and told us of his love of silent films and why he choose to spend the time to compose new music to them and then the films got underway.

We started with one of Buster Keaton's last short films called The Ballonatic which is a fun romp about a young man's misadventures with women, the wild and a hot air balloon.  I found myself quickly forgetting that there was a man on the corner of the stage with a piano and getting drawn into the film.  It was really neat to have so many kids there because they really got into it and were giggling away.  I particularly enjoyed the scene with the bear stalking him in the woods  Next was a feature film that is on the list of the top films you must see before you die: Sherlock Jr.

If you haven't seen this film you really must.  It is amazing!  It was directed by Buster Keaton in 1924 and is filled with brilliant moments and special effect that are mind blowing when you think of the time period they were made in.  There is a particularly brilliant moment in the film where Buster's character (a film projectionist with dreams of being a detective) falls asleep and dreams of walking into the movie screen and interacting with the characters.  It is so well done that my jaw dropped when I saw it.  I found a clip that featured some great moments from the film.

Interesting fact:  Buster Keaton broke his neck in the first scene of this video when the water him his body and drove him hard into the railroad tracks, but he didn't realize it for years.  In the scene where he enters the movie screen, his camera man used surveyors equipment to position him properly between the cuts.  It's pretty amazing.  I'm very glad I got to have this once in a lifetime experience and I wish that the pianist could have played all night so we could have watched more films.