The General

During Self Isolation, there are those who try new things, and there are those who fall into the habits of doing old things. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle, yes, I am constantly watching new movies, however, I have been challenging myself to try new types of movies, watching Buster Keaton’s movie was definitely one of those experiences.

Although this movie is old, it really has aged well. Buster Keaton’s method of film making, even though it is silent, has inspired countless film makers, including Wes Anderson (one of my personal favorite directors.) Although some of the plots may be old, the comedy is what stands. It’s amazing to think of how this was done at a time where film was limited, and there was little that could be done in post-production. I have always ignored silent films, I’ve always thought of them as a meaningless thing of the past, but after challenging myself to this, my mind has been changed. The story follows Buster Keaton, a train engineer, as he is turned away from joining the army in the civil war, but ends up getting caught in a battle himself. The setting takes place on a train for a large part of the film. This allows for some really fun comedy that isn’t typically done. There were also many improvised bits, and considering all of this is physical comedy, that makes the feat even more impressive. Obviously, while these films are really good, I did find myself becoming bored fairly quickly when the characters weren’t speaking for that amount of time, that being said, in the version that I watched, the music in the background really added to the fun that Buster Keaton presented. Overall, I am really glad that I pulled this old movie out of the collection, and I found that the way its humour still holds up to be amazing. Still, without voices, there was a lot that could have been done, but is missing. But, it’s free online and is definitely worth watching. I’m giving this one a 9.0/10