Some films sometimes lead audiences by decades.
On the last day of 1926, a highly anticipated comedy was released.
One of its lenses, which was shot on location, claimed to have cost $42,000 (about 270,000 yuan), was the most expensive shot of its time.
The train that fell into the river was only salvaged 16 years later for scrap iron auctions
However, the film has no return, and the director has put in his own life.
Twenty-nine years later, a forgotten copy was found in the director's old mansion.
The film was re-screened and went viral throughout Europe.
After another 5 years, the director was awarded the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Directed by Buster Keaton, Buster Keaton
74 years later, 2000.
The AFI (American Film Institute) ranked 18th in the 100 greatest films in film history.
To this day, many fans have dedicated their knees after watching it.
Now 92 years later, it is still shocking, and this movie is "The General".
The General
The General
1926.12.31
The Douban score is as high as 9.0, and nearly 60% of people have 5 stars.
The Inspector is also biased against silent films.
But since I've seen it once, every December Inspector can't help but spend the night with it.
Many of the bridges in the film are too advanced for now to look at more than 90 years later.
As a silent film, it is not boring, but the rhythm is tense and gripping.
The stems have been copied over and over again by later generations.
In The General, you'll find the origins of many movies.
As a film that transcends the times, it has been homaged and imitated countless times in the past hundred years.
Avengers 3 2018, The General 1926
The film is based on true events that took place in 1862 (based on William Pittenger's memoir, The Great Locomotive Chase).
The lead actor is Buster Keaton, a comedy guru with the same name as Charlie Chaplin, who is also a screenwriter and director.
The General is the name of a train.
The male protagonist Johnny is a train engineer, and to put it bluntly, he is a train driver.
He was short, expressionless, but clever.
He had two loves in his life: one was a train engine and the other was his girlfriend.
The town where he lived was involved in the Civil War.
His girlfriend's father and brother both joined the army, but he was rejected because he was "more suitable for driving a train."
The girlfriend thought he was lying and said harshly: I won't be with you unless you put on your military uniform.
In this way, the male protagonist spent a year in a fog.
The shot of him sitting on a wheel in a depressed and unruly state has become a classic in film history, and this shot may kill him at any time!
A year later, while the train was stopping and passengers were eating, the General he was piloting was hijacked by northern spies.
His girlfriend also happened to be kidnapped on the train.
Subsequently, the film opens two narratives of confrontation before and after.
The first half is the male protagonist's pursuit of the General.
In the second half, the male protagonist and his girlfriend fled in the general's car.
The General has a simple story but a lot of jokes, and has been hailed as one of the greatest comedies of the silent film era.
Unlike the comedians who stumbled and sold miserably at the time, Keaton sold his life.
In an era when there were no computer effects, all shots were shot live!
Crawling around on a high-speed train is the least dangerous shot.
At every turn, the train rear-ends, the train chases people.
If you are not careful, the actor may be caught in the car.
Keaton refused to use a stand-in.
Even the most dangerous shots were played by himself.
Every second of the funny is thrilling, because many of the shots are played on the spot.
What a fall, a hand slip without grasping is a real emergency.
It's amazing that keaton can make natural and real jokes in such dangerous situations.
Every time he encountered danger, he was able to turn the danger into a disaster.
Many of the shots are like O Henry's novels, both unexpected and plausible.
Many fans can't help but sigh after watching it: Half a century ago, Keaton had already driven the train out of the car.
After watching the whole film, you will be unable to help but laugh, and at the same time, your palms are sweating.
No green screen, no VIA, top speed of 60 mph (about 96.5 km/h), this is the real fast and furious.
The hilarious and thrilling "The General" was initially unremarkable, and it wasn't until decades later that people began to re-examine the film.
And it was also rated as Buster Keaton's best film.
Before and after 2000, it began to appear frequently on various charts.
In 1960 Buster Keaton received the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement
When it comes to director Buster Keaton, his other name is louder — The Stone Face.
You may have only seen this famous photograph, but his influence on cinema has been deeply rooted in the history of cinema over the past century.
The Police, 1922
The performances of Stephen Chow, Jackie Chan and others are full of his shadow.
After watching his movie, I learned that the original meme used by Star Master as a blockbuster was invented by Keaton.
Prisoner 13, 1920
Kung Fu 2004
Maybe you'll find these stems unsurprising.
But you know, even if you kiss thousands of times, the first kiss will definitely be remembered for a lifetime.
The Week, 1920
The Trickster, 1991
Jackie Chan's imitation is more obvious, so much so that netizens jokingly call Buster Keaton the grandfather of Jackie Chan.
No need for a stand-in, the on-the-spot play, the up-and-down performance method is completely a reproduction of Keaton.
Captain II 1928 The Eagle Project 1991
Plan A, 1983, Captain II, 1928
There is a meme circulating on the Internet.
Foreigners look at the shot of Jackie Chan jumping on the roof and ask Jackie Chan: How did this shot come out?
Jackie Chan said: Jump directly.
Red Zone, 1995
However, Keaton's lifeless "cut off the son and grandson jump" was 72 years earlier than Jackie Chan.
During the filming of "Three Times", Keaton made a mistake jumping to the top of the building, and the photographer recorded it all according to Keaton's request that the camera could not be stopped.
People who have worked with Keaton describe Keaton as "a miracle he survives every time he finishes a movie."
Keaton's stage name "Buster Buster" was his nickname as a child, and when the baby Keaton fell down the stairs at 18 months, he was not injured, and he stood up on his own, so he was called The Trickster (trickster, meaning thriving child).
Three Times, 1923
Keaton's ability to influence Chinese actors shows that he has a profound influence in the world.
Many of the brain-hole shots you see are his inventions half a century ago.
Inception 2010 Ship 1921
The Man Without a Name 2009 Hapless 1921
Newton once said: If I see farther than others, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants.
In the film industry, Buster Keaton is such a giant.
Thor 3: Twilight of the Gods 2017
Looking at "The General" and Keaton's films now, you will find that his comedy is still high-end.
In his movies you don't see vulgar, but it can stimulate your inner pleasure.
In "The General", he can't hold his girlfriend and falls
Keaton has his own theory of making jokes.
In the early days, his jokes were also "cartoon gag", exaggerated but unrealistic.
This kind of joke can make children laugh forward and backward, but he finds that adults will feel "fake" and "childish".
After much fumbling, Keaton concluded that the best jokes must be natural, authentic, and believable gag.
All the "fake" jokes specially made by editing and special effects will not inspire the audience to laugh from the heart.
Bad Luck, 1921
So all his shots are coherent shots that refuse to be edited, one shot to the end.
If the lens cannot be completed in its natural state, it means that the stem is not qualified.
These scenes are still amazing, Sherlock Holmes II, 1924
Watch Keaton's film and you will feel the joy from the heart.
Because he has already mastered the psychological principle of making the audience laugh through experiments: releasing people's inner tension and anxiety.
Every time Keaton can overcome the danger on the big screen, not only to give people the thrill of "false alarm", but also to bring the audience a koi experience of murder.
In "Dream of Paris", the director used the character's mouth to say what he said about Chaplin and Keaton.
In the film, Matthew said: The two of them cannot be compared.
Leo said: Is it because Chaplin is unparalleled?
Matthew said: No, it's because Keaton is unbeatable.
Dream of Paris, 2003
In the silent film era, Keaton fell countless times like other comedians, on all fours.
But Keaton always came up with many miraculous strokes that had never been seen before.
He is not only ahead of the times in terms of jokes, but also surpasses the audience's appreciation level in the structure of the story.
Captain II, 1928
"The General" is a comedy set in the Civil War, but there are very few scenes of war in the film.
In one scene, Keaton struggles to chop wood to speed up the train, noticing the vast marching army behind him.
This one shot not only presents the war scene, but also creates an inexplicable laugh point.
At the same time, the torrent of the times has become a background board for the fate of a small person.
Although the male protagonist cannot change the course of history, he is still trying to change his destiny.
As the war progressed, the real general rode on a horse to give orders, and Keaton also pointed a sword at the country.
Keaton ended up saving not only the Beauty, but also the Southern army.
He became a hero, and he was a nameless man who didn't even have a military uniform.
Today, for a small person who does not match the word "hero" to become a hero.
We call it "anti-hero" or "anti-routine".
In his time, there were hardly any dead people in comedies.
But in "The General", although there is no blood in sight, people really have to die.
This was one of the reasons why the audience at the time could not accept "The General".
Today, this humor, a mixture of absurdity, tragedy, death, and pain, we call it "black humor."
However, the film, which transcended audiences and times, became a turning point in Keaton's career.
In 1926, the $75,000 "General" failed miserably at the box office.
In 1928, Keaton's studio was out of business, and he chose to sign a contract with MGM.
Keaton later said that "this was his worst decision."
In the past, when making films independently in the studio, he had the scene, props, screenwriters, directors and actors, and many of the inspirations were played by him on the spot.
And there are friends to invest, the cost does not matter.
But the big studio's strict management system left him overwhelmed, and he changed from freelance to being assigned to a role (later reduced to consultant, with a weekly salary of only $100).
And his later image was reduced to the same color as other ordinary comedians.
Plagued by the frustration of his work and his marriage, Keaton began to drink heavily, no longer having the scenery of the 20s.
It wasn't until decades later that people began to understand and study his work.
At the 1965 Venice Film Festival, Keaton was invited to attend, and some journalists waited in line all night at the port where he was to arrive.
With tears in his eyes in the interview, he said: "This is the first time in my life that I have been invited to a film festival, and I hope this will not be the last." ”
Buster Keaton in Venice, 1965
Image from Pinterest
Three months later, he died in Los Angeles, USA, at the age of 71.
Looking at Keaton's work, we can see that this cold-faced smiley man also has anxiety, uneasiness, anger or excitement on his face.
But the only expression that didn't, was a smile.
Buster Keaton's films are still being re-screened today, and the impact of his work on the world continues.
He doesn't sell meat, he's not vulgar, he doesn't play with, he doesn't even speak, he can bring the audience the most advanced jokes.
He is considered one of the most influential and far-reaching people in the history of world cinema.
Comedy writers who are now plagiarizing each other and have ruined their views should look back.
Take a look at Buster Keaton's work and a quote he left behind:
A comedian does something funny, while a good comedian does things in a funny way.
Endless American dramas, endless movies, want to see more high-quality films, pay attention to the public account "ttyingtan", you want to see here!
(Backstage reply to "General", watch the film together)