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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful:-
Staggering silent genius that leaves you speechless., 10 January 2001
Author:
Alice Liddel ([email protected]) from dublin, ireland
It's odd that Keaton's most acclaimed film should in a sense be his least
typical. If we have developed a cliched sense of the Keaton persona - the
stony-faced, melancholy dreamer, defeated by modernity and women, lost in an
anguished, surreal, yet modern space, successful only in his dreams - then
you won't find much of that here. 'The General' is not only historically
grounded, it is set in perhaps the defining moment in American history, when
the nation tore itself apart over the idea of what America was.
Buster is no loser here - he's only apparently cowardly to his prospective
in-laws - we know why he doesn't fight, and he proves his quite
extraordinary bravery, a lone defender of virtue against a gang of
subversives, for which he is officially recognised. He even manages to
master technology, driving his trains like they are go-karts, manipulating
the complex railroad system to his own(subtly sexualised) end. The Beckett
pseud won't find much here.
Or won't he? This is a very strange Civil War picture, with a similar plot
to 'Birth of a Nation', but none of the overheated ideology. In fact,
Keaton's representation of this divisive bloodbath, where thousands of real
bodies died or were maimed, which left generations of bitterness, is
remarkable for its cool abstraction. Keaton gives us a Civil War with the
history taken out.
It is, of course, appropriate to our conception of him that Buster should be
on the losing side, and it is this historical irony that undermines the
film's heroics and happy ending - WE know that Buster is doing it all for
nothing (well, I'm sure his fiancee wouldn't say it was nothing!); we may
not see Sisyphus' boulder rolling down this time, but we know it will. In
terms of the film, Keaton's being a Unionist or Confederate is arbitrary -
there are no reasons given for the war, no historical background. Buster is
not fighting for any particular ideal or culture; he has to prove himself,
like knights of old, in action, before he can win the princess'
hand.
this emphasis on action, rather than context or analysis, is a radically new
way of looking at history. The film consists of two movements, like a
mathematical vector - in the first half, Buster chases a train; in the
second, the train chases him. The film, like the country, is divided in two
- if Buster's efforsts are ultimately pointless, than what of the war? To
say there is no moral valency would be wrong - the North kidnap civilian
women, the South don't, and ultimately will lose. But in Keaton's universe,
everyone loses; every struggle is only for a Pyhrric victory, because in the
end we will always be defeated, if only by death.
The audacity of Keaton to stretch this minimalist conceit of action to an
entire feature, in period dress, is breathtaking. Even more so is that the
film is so thrilling; it reduces cinema to its component parts - the
photographing of action, hunter and hunted - and asks why we need anything
more. Action is so eloquent, explaining character, history, culture.
There is something very moving, even humbling, about this abstract plot
taking place in such beautiful, natural surroundings. You can almost touch
the thick raindrops as Buster rescues Annabelle, or the trees as the train
whizzes by. Is there any more resonant sequence in cinema than the one
where Buster puts in heroic effort to get a cannon working to derail his
enemies, only to leave it pointing at himself? 'Heroic' is the word David
Thomson uses to describe this masterpiece, and you're kind of glad the wise
Buster was alive.
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