The Great Buster

If it wasn't for the lengthy and amazing documentary about Buster Keaton by Kevin Brownlow that was made back in the 1980s, "The Great Buster" would seemed like an even better documentary. The problem is that the 80s film was simply perfect in every way....and was long enough to thoroughly explore the man's art and life. Now, nearly 30 years later is this other film....though "The Great Buster" is a bit different in style. Sure, it shows film clips...but much of it also includes interviews with folks who either knew him or loved his work. Most of this I really enjoyed...though WHY they had Johnny Knoxville among these interviewees is beyond me....especially when he compares "Jackass" and "Bad Grandpa" to the refined and brilliant work of Keaton. It's like comparing a Hummel figurine to a Michelangelo masterpiece! Fortunately, he was only a small part of the film and the rest of it was quite good. Having Peter Bogdonovich narrate was a bit plus, as he's one of the foremost film experts and directors there is....and I highly respect his knowledge and craftmanship you see in making this movie. I could tell it was his labor of love.

For fans of Keaton as well as the unitiated, it's well worth seeing. But do yourself a favor....find "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow" and see it first. I know it's on YouTube and a few DVDs are floating around out there. It is THE definitive story of Buster Keaton. Then, see "The Great Buster" as well....you'll be happy you did.

An excellent overview of Buster Keaton's life and work. The man was such a genius and seeing this touching documentary made me smile. I liked seeing all the miscellany and smaller things he did in his later life, even the commercials, because I had never seen them before. I also liked getting a little excerpt out of so many of the early two-reelers, and of course those extraordinary moments from his major works. I'm not sure about all the choices Bogdanovich made in terms of the celebrity interviews and would have preferred a little more depth in places that didn't get it, but it does show the scope of the influence Keaton had. In the end I appreciated the balance in the documentary, between all of the little clips and rare bits (running the risk of turning attention away from the major films) and the truly amazing physical comedy in those epic moments (running the risk of just becoming just a montage of film clips). It's not perfect, but I saw and learned new things, and was touched and inspired afterwards.

Fine documentary on the life and art of silent film star Buster Keaton. Written and directed by Peter Bogdanovich (THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, PAPER MOON, MASK), this was the last film he made as a director, and it's fitting that his final film is a love letter to one of the early stars of film and follows his career from the days of silent films through the Golden Age of Hollywood, all the way through the 1960s on the eve of the New Hollywood revolution. Not only does the film celebrate the life and art of Keaton, the film serves as a document of the evolution of American film and the Hollywood studio system. Featuring contemporary and archival interviews with diverse personalities, including Dick Van Dyke, Johnny Knoxville, Paul Dooley, French Stewart, Richard Lewis, Carl Reiner, Bill Hader, Mel Brooks, Cybill Shepherd, Werner Herzog, Nick Kroll, Quentin Tarantino, Leonard Maltin, Ben Mankiewicz, and Norman Lloyd. While the film serves as a loving celebration of Keaton, it's not particularly revelatory. It works best as an introduction to Keaton for the uninitiated, but is nonetheless worth watching for Keaton fans for the many interviews and rare archival footage of Keaton and his work outside of his classic films.

The Great Buster (2018) -

I recently watched 'Go West' (1925) and found an appreciation for the comedy genius that was Buster Keaton within the first few minutes and by the end of it, he was my new favourite. As a result of that I was very keen to watch this documentary in order to find out as much as I could about him and the other films that he had been a part of.

It was a shame that the narrator's (Peter Bogdanovich) voice was so monotonous and dull, because the clips of Buster were hilarious and quite often laugh out loud moments at times.

The journey mostly followed a chronological direction and gave warning when it would have to go back to something for further investigation, as such it was easy to understand and it clearly showed the highs and lows of Buster's life.

I think that for me to find such joy in performances that are over 100 years old says something about the brilliance and skill of the man in question. His works have certainly stood the test of time better than a lot of others, including some of the more recent efforts from just the last 40 years, which are already dated and cringey.

There's nothing really to say about production values, etc, so this review will be finished here, but if you've ever been tempted by silent movies, watch this to see where to start.

760.11/1000.

People's collective sense of humor change with time. But, this reminds me of people frantically trying to keep up with technology that is supposed to make their lives easier. Just as we become more and more addicted to and dependent on technology and all its modern gadgets - we gradually lose our own resourcefulness and creativity.

This is what happened in movie industry with comedies (and not just comedies). First we had silent B&W movies where you needed to be a genius to make audience laugh with no use of sound and color, with things you could barely call special effects today and smart use of dialogues only when necessary. A while later, it was easier for actors and directors as they could use all those things to make a good movie. Need for ingenuity lowered.

Then suddenly, the only thing that worked was actors swearing in almost every line they spoke. Nowadays, almost exclusively, directors rely on swearing, sarcasm and cheap irony (in other genres blood, nudity, violence, etc.).

Need for ingenuity practically disappeared. Or do we need it more than ever?

One of such original genius of the silent era was Buster Keaton. And he pretty much did all his best work himself - he wrote the scenes, directed them, acted in them and pulled many highly dangerous stunts to achieve perfection each time. This documentary by Peter Bogdanovich (Petar Bogdanovic in Serbian - he's my countryman :)) puts the Great Buster under the spotlight right in time as the cinema is crying for it. And it will serve as a quality intro for announced restoration of the comic's top movies. Bogdanovich's choice of talking heads is questionable, but some of them are obviously selected to draw the younger audience.

It is truly a celebration of Keaton's legacy but also a reminder what the real, healthy humor is all about - not vulgarity and humiliation, but simplicity, originality and inventiveness. This brilliant comic was known as the Great Stone Face, but - as pointed out by Cybill Shepherd (and as told by John Ford once) - you act with your eyes, not with your face.

I just hope that at least a part of today's spoiled audience that only ask for new, loud, fast (and senseless) movies will recognize the great value of Buster's works - all presented timely and nicely by Bogdanovich - and discover it for themselves. I sure will, although I decided this already after watching The General.The Genius Buster - the one we need today...