Director Dissection with Seanc and Rauldc

City Lights, Gold Rush, Modern Times, The General, and Sherlock Jr. Going to watch The Kid now.

The Kid



Liked it. Makes me wonder if I just watched City Lights and Modern Times at the wrong time because I am rating this higher than those two. But it had a really neat story and I really enjoyed the music. I'm used to a bigger love story with Chaplin and while that wasn't as present in this one, it is still a film that was certainly full of charm. Not all that many funny moments compared to The Gold Rush and Modern Times but there was enough humor in it to keep it even balanced. A good start to this dissection as it shows me that Chaplin isn't a one trick pony. Am I correct in that this is technically his directors debut? Another one of those films that may have nowhere to go but up with another watch. Not quite Gold Rush territory but very good. The only thing that I didn't like much was the Chaplin dream sequence near the end but that can be forgiven.

I'm gonna watch The Cameraman now. Don't know if i'll have much to say about it but i'll post my thoughts.

There seems to be something up with my Private Message Box. It keeps saying that I have reached the limit, but I still can't respond to you even when I delete a bunch of older PMs.

I'm definitely willing to participate!

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

The Cameraman -

The only Keaton i'd seen before this was The General which i like alot. Honestly though, to my surprise i think i liked this one a bit more. The General's stunts are amazing but they were also a bit exhausting for me at times and took me out of the story a bit which isn't a bad thing. This was alot more subdued with lighter gags and i felt i got more into the story even though it was simple. Keaton is very charming, i also like how even though he's very capable of all of these amazing stunts; here at least he came across as i dunno what word i'm looking for.. a dork kinda at times. He was also a bit creepy at times but i kind of just accepted that. The story didn't detract from the humour either, it was funny; not hilarious but really enjoyable. I was thinking that this must have been a very impressive comedy for its time (i'm sure most of his films were), mostly just in how many gags were fit into small timeframes. For example in the minute or so between Keaton being told to photograph the fire and him jumping on the firetruck from the top of my head there's: Sally pushing Buster towards the door and his camera smashing the glass, Buster's hat slipping off, Buster's jacket getting caught in the door, three different accidental hits of the policeman with his camera and two or three different dialogue gags with Buster and the policeman mixing each other up. Okay not hilarious but it's still impressive in my opinion. Stuff like him running ridiculously fast up in down the stairs then answering the phone then getting to her before she has finished talking were really well done too; the "I'm sorry if i'm a little late" joke shouldn't have worked but it just did for me haha. When he took her to her house after that there were two perfect short gags that really cracked me up; Sally's mother chasing him out and it coinciding perfectly with him walking out the door with her and him walking the opposite way from her when they got outside . And oh god him on the bus wheel , reminds me of probably my favourite sight gag in The General. Anyway no point in pointing out every last thing i found funny; if you don't like slapstick this won't be for you but there is actually a surprising amount of dialogue jokes too. My only problem with the humour was a few jokes going on too long like the changing room one which i felt got a bit tedious.

I liked the music too; that's something i really like about silent films the ability to jump between playful, chaotic, touching, etc and make it seem like it's the one big piece since music is always playing. It really works for rapid mood changes that seem to happen quite often in slapstick films that also attempt a dramatic story. Very well filmed as well particularly the chaotic scenes like the one at the start and the tong war. Thought this was really great. I'd still say City Lights is my favourite silent film because i found the romance very touching and i still think the boxing scene in that is the funniest thing i've seen in a silent film but i'd have this second slightly ahead of The General. To be fair i've only seen like 7 silent films; really need to see more and i might check out more with you guys.

Awesome, you want to pick three films between the two?

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Letterboxd

I've seen pretty much all the well known feature length films by Keaton and Chaplin.

I consider City Lights and Modern Times as my favorite Chaplin films.
It's harder to say which is my favorite Keaton film, because I think they're all so enjoyable in the same way. It becomes very hard to choose. I somehow felt a very strong connection with The Cameraman, so I guess that's my favorite of his after having been through his filmography once.

Alright, give me a minute!

A King in New York (1957) - It's a lesser known film and it's one of the very few Chaplin-directed films that I haven't seen yet. I also have it on DVD. This will be a great opportunity for me to finally give it a watch.

College (1927) - Also haven't seen this lesser known Keaton film yet.

Three Ages (1923) - Another one I haven't seen and that seems pretty interesting.

I chose to pick three films that I haven't seen yet, in order to broaden my horizon a little bit. It's also always interesting to see some of the lesser known work by great directors. I've discovered many gems by doing that.

These are our 9 picks:

The General
The Cameraman
The Kid
Modern Times
Limelight
Steamboat Bill Jr.
A King in New York
College
Three Ages

Only haven't seen the last three yet.

Just to give a proper summary of what I've seen from both directors so far, like you did:

Charlie Chaplin

The Kid (1921)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Circus (1928)
City Lights (1931)
Modern Times (1936)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Limelight (1952)

Buster Keaton

Our Hospitality (1923)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
The Navigator (1924)
Seven Chances (1925)
The General (1926)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
The Cameraman (1928)

Excellent. We have our 9!

I will probably watch Three Ages next. Though I probably won't get to it until Sunday.

I'm going to try and watch either The Kid or Modern Times over the next few days so i've seen two each from Keaton and Chaplin at least.

College



A film that I wish had a little more charm and a few more laughs. I think my favorite part was Keaton hurdling over the bushes or pole vaulting into the upper bedroom. I also liked the scene where he had his hole in one. The love and chemistry between him and Mary seemed a bit to astray for me to really care about how they ended up. Still, one can take a film like this and certainly see the appeal that his other great films have in film history. I also would have liked a session that showed him playing football, as for some reason I thought that would end up being a part in the movie since I believe a flyer he picked up said something about football on it. Either way, it's nice to get a glimpse of some lesser known Keaton.

+

I might join in on a few!

But for now, here are some thoughts from when I watched these two Keaton's for the first time...

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MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

Going to try and see The Kid in about an hour.

I am glad we decided to do Keaton and Chaplin as our next directors to look at. I have only seen a couple of films from each and really want to see much more. I would be lying if I said I think I will have a lot to talk about with these films though. When Chaplin is at his best there is nothing more delightful to watch for me. However, there are always lulls in his films for me that make it hard to stay engaged. What I am most worried about when writing about these movies is saying I love these five bits, but these five bits put me to sleep. It seems like that would be very easy to do with these style of films. I do hope to discover more than that the more we watch though.

Modern Times started off fantastic but I really think it could have been about half the run time. Chaplin is so inventive and always endearing. This might be odd to say but what I love about him is the way he brings his politics into the film. From what I read Chaplin and I would probably not see eye to eye on politics but I can always appreciate someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and has such a passion for humanity. In Modern Times you can feel Chaplin's passion for the working class and how they are treated. No bit displayed this more then the auto feeder. Probably not my favorite bit in the film but a great metaphor for the greed of big business.

I really didn't like how Chaplin chose to use sound at times here and then other times still used captions. Maybe someone can tell me why he went for a half and half approach but it really didn't work for me. I know film is a visual medium and there is no problem understanding the story here. However, if you are going to use dialogue as part of your story telling and have the ability, for the love of God, let them speak.

The love story is under developed. Which is saying something when I felt the movie to be too long. I do like when the love interest is introduced and really love the last fifteen minutes of the film which heavily involve her. Overall this was a fine watch but doesn't come close to something like City Lights which thus far is my favorite Chaplin and my favorite silent overall.

Legitimate criticisms there, @seanc. Even though I'm not bothered by any of the things you say and Modern Times is one of my favorite films of all time, I can perfectly understand where you're coming from. That's the sign of a great review.

The reason why I love Chaplin so much is because I love his screen personality. Orson Welles once said Chaplin was the biggest personality ever on the silver screen and I kind of agree with him. He seemingly didn't need to do that much to make a scene interesting. Every single movement of his is fascinating, every single expression is both hilarious and endearing. I think Modern Times is one of those films where his personality shines through the best. There's some mild social criticism in his film and that part of it works, but in the end it's the various moments and situations that make the film so interesting and memorable. That's why I couldn't cut a single frame from it. All the distractions he offers during the course of the film are essential. They need to be there or otherwise I wouldn't be watching a Chaplin film. Sharing time with his screen personality is the core of the Chaplin experience.

Keaton also had a very strong personality, but I think his films are cinematically and intellectually more satisfying (at least in a more obvious manner) compared to Chaplin's films. The latter went straight for the heart with a seemingly more simple approach to the art of cinema. Almost everything was in service of his personality.

Some good insight there guys!

I think I'll shoot for Three Ages next, probably Wednesday.

I am surprised @Cobpyth finds Keaton more intellectually more satisfying than Chaplin. Cinematically it doesn't surprise me. More to come on that. I watched Steamboat Bill Jr tonight.