Buster Keaton © RR
CINÉMA DE LA PLAGE – A slice of burlesque at the beach
Cinéma de la Plage presents an opportunity to rediscover a restored copy of a masterpiece of silent film and burlesque: The General, by Buster Keaton. The film was based on a true story that took place during the American Civil War.
Photo from the film © RR
Johnnie Gray is an ordinary mechanic who spends his days between his job as a railway engineer and his sweetheart, Annabelle Lee. When the Civil War breaks out, she is captured along with his locomotive – The “General” – by Yankee spies. To prove to her that he is brave, he decides to save her.
The plot of The General is based on an actual incident: Yankee spies managed to take a railway convoy and the Confederate Army captured them in April 1862. Preceded by its calamitous reputation as a financial disaster, the film was a fiasco from its release in 1927. In 1956, there was a remake called The Great Locomotive Chase produced by Walt Disney. Eighty-six years after the original film was made, it is considered one of the greatest silent films.
For this feature film with a burlesque tone, Buster Keaton did the stunts himself, sometimes to the point of risking his life. To stay as close as possible to the period and to historic veracity, the director, who spent one-third of the film’s budget recruiting extras, constructed each shot using as a source actual photographs taken during the conflict. Restored by Modern Videofilm, The General is presented in a 4K digital version.
Benoit Pavan
SCREENINGS
Monday 20 May / Plage Macé / 9:30 pm.
