The General (1926) - Buster Keaton je jedna od onih mitskih figura za koje čuješ, ali nekako onda zaboraviš. Nije kao Chaplin globalno poznat. Nemojte me krivo shvatiti, Keaton je iznimno cijenjen i veličan, ali je uvijek nekako bio u sjeni Chaplina. Obožavam Chaplina i ovo mi je prvi Keatonov film. Keaton glumi jednog inženjera kad krene vojska, prijavi se za rat, ali ga ne prime kao vojnika i sad želi dokazati svima kako je on vojnik. Svakake ludarije se odvijaju u ovom klasiku, ali najpoznatije su scene sa vlakovima/lokomotivama bez CGI-a, sve od strane Keatona. Film nije ostario niti dana, ljudi ovo morate pogledati. Slika u filmu je vanserijska, tako svježa i ono kad se uloviš tijekom filma i razmišljaš kako su to sve snimali tada prije skoro 100 godina. Gledaš te ljude, svi su nažalost mrtvi, ali dali su nevjerojatnu ostavštinu. Film je klasik u pravom smislu te riječi. Keaton je čudo što je izveo, pravi kaskader koji je i sa te strane vrlo utjecajan. Neki kadrovi u filmu su mesmerizing kao rušenje mosta kad ide vlak ili Keaton kad nosi zastavu. Keatone, vratit ću ti se - molim te čekaj me!
9/10
The General is frequently cited as Keaton's greatest work, and while I might not 100% agree with that*, there's no debate it's the most impressive. One of the things that's consistently gobsmacking about his work, and the genre in general, is that there's no faking what we see onscreen - no stuntmen, no chromakey, no nothing. In this case, it's not just Keaton's famed stunts, though those are impressive and insane (especially the moment when he rides on the front of the train to clear a couple of spare planks from the tracks with split-second timing). It's also the scale of the rest of the production. They built an entire dam to back up the river so they could destroy it for a shot! They built an entire actual bridge, set it on fire, and then sent an actual vintage locomotive onto it so it could collapse into the actual river! (Wikipedia says this was the single most expensive shot in all of silent cinema, and I'm not surprised.)
"You'll Enjoy Mr. Barlow. And He'll Enjoy You!"
