Buster Keaton's Short Films (Part 1)

Because I bought the Masters of Cinema's Buster Keaton box set I am going to review all of his short films (1917-1923) during the next few weeks in 4 parts (one DVD at a time from the 4-DVD box). In the first part all of the films might be directed by Roscoe Arbuckle, but Buster Keaton has a strong presence in each film. 

The Butcher Boy (1917) shows the core structure of what Arbuckle's films revolve around: the director's "greedy but lovable" character tries to win the love of a beautiful girl who is also courted by Al St. John's antagonistic bastard - and the whole story is full of slapstic comedy. In the first films Buster Keaton "only" gets unforgettable supporting roles. Even though the two setpieces of The Butcher Boys are funny and interesting the transition between them is ugly and some of the humor is unfunny because it is so lowbrow.

In The Rough House (1917) the same elements are mixed in a significantly more incoherent way that is worthy of a chuckle at best. The setting has changed from a general store to a big household which disappointing in comparison. The gags are still similar, but they come out of nowhere and don't add up into a hilarious sequence, which makes them cold. Or so it seems in comparison to other films Arbuckle and Keaton made. Nevertheless The Rough House is an enjoyable short film.

His Wedding Night (1917) is a tad slower than the other films in a way: the gags are more sparse and they are saved for the final third that is full of visual gags that are more or less funny. It's not exactly a great approach since the film doesn't work that well apart from its gags, but the comedy kicks more punch when you have to wait for it a bit longer than in the other films.

Oh, Doctor! (1917) follows a doctor who is seduced by a thief, but as the situation becomes more complicated a vicious amount of slapstick comedy dominates the film. For some reason the film is surprisingly dry even though it had the potential to be a lot better. It reminds me of The Rough House because my reaction was rather similar despite a superficially better screenplay.

Coney Island (1917) is clearly one of the better short films Arbuckle ever made. The amusement park section provides a bunch of classic and unforgettable gags. It is a shame the film takes a turn for more lowbrow humor in the end when it could have done so much more than that.

Out West (1918) is an interesting film for its time: it has (possibly accidental) anti-racist ideas that come through the parody of cliched tropes of the western film genre. This effort is more unified than Arbuckle's other films since it constantly makes fun of westerns in a refreshing way.

Out of the films I've seen so far The Bell Boy (1918) is the brightest result of the collaboration between Keaton, Arbuckle and St. John. The refined gags, top-notch acting and awesome setpieces guarantee success. There are moments that feel almost like subversion of established tropes in Arbuckle's films (such as St. John being one of the protagonists this time).

The final short film of this part, Moonshine (1918), hasn't completely survived to this day: only 6 minutes of the film have been found and released on DVD. As a result of that the short is more or less a mess that barely has the sort of brilliance you could expect from the makers.

In all of these films Keaton and Arbuckle perform magnificently in their heavily physical roles. Formally the films are stable and never distracting so I consider them successful in that regard as well.

Scores:

The Butcher Boy (1917): 8 out of 10

The Rough House (1917): 6 out of 10

His Wedding Night (1917): 7 out of 10

Oh, Doctor! (1917): 6 out of 10

Coney Island (1917): 8 out of 10

Out West (1918): 9 out of 10

The Bell Boy (1918): 9 out of 10

Moonshine (1918): 5 out of 10

A Country Doctor

Koji Yamamura's experimental animated short film A Country Doctor (2007) is an adaptation of Franz Kafka's short story of the same name. Adapting Kafka is often problematic because it is nigh impossible to portray the peculiarities of Kafka's prose onscreen. Yamamura succeeds quite well by using weird techniques like distorting the characters throughout the film and the art design is sketchy and creepy. The absurd and delusional story is certainly interesting, but in the end the short film is not superb. It's "only" very good.

Score: 8 out of 10

PS: It's uploaded on YouTube in three parts.

The Fly

No, this is not the Cronenberg film. I'm writing about Ferenc Rófusz's experimental animated short film that was made in 1980. It is a 3-minute film about a fly buzzing around until it enters a house and ... you can probably figure out the rest. The sparse amount of frames per second gives it an intensive atmosphere - which is made even more tangible by the use of a "fake" fish-eye lens that has been used later in anime by Hideaki Anno for example. You could probably write a brief analysis of nihilism or terrible discrimination of insects if you wanted to, but this film is all about badass technical madness.

Score: 8 out of 10

PS: The film is uploaded on YouTube.

I'm Here

Spike Jonze's latest short film, I'm Here (2010), is about a robot who begins to admire creativity and falls in love after meeting another robot who is more carefree. The film turns out to be a nice character study and fairly traditional love story which is tweaked a little bit. The bizarre yet "realistic" world is surprisingly inviting and the pacing is overwhelming. The warm lighting and smooth camerawork make the film look beautiful. It's also impressive how the special effects blend so well with real footage.

I'm Here is a sweet, little film that I would recommend for everyone although I don't think it is as special as others would say.

Score: 8 out of 10

PS: You can watch the short film online legally and for free here.

Tea Date

Mina Park's short film Tea Date (2005) was interesting for me for two reasons: first of all, it stars the always-lovely Doona Bae, and secondly, it can be watched for free on YouTube (the link below the review). The short film focuses on the relationship between a foreign student and her old tutor. Sadly, the film's screenplay is quite vague and it isn't able to say almost anything. It briefly pokes questions about relationships and old age, but in the end it is a completely forgettable film. The form never bothered me, but it is quite basic in all aspects so that it can not be praised either.

Score: 5 out of 10

PS: You can watch this short film on YouTube.

Logorama

Logorama (2009) is an animated short film created by Francois Alaux and Herve de Crecy. I'm not going to review it because that would be ... futile in its own way. You can watch it online for free and you need to know only three things in advance: it features thousands of famous logos, it is nominated for an Oscar this year and it's AWESOME.

Score: 9 out of 10

A Letter to Uncle Boonmee

First of all, I have to thank The Auteurs for hosting the online premiere of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's latest short film, A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009), for FREE. I recommend everyone to check it out (see the link in the earlier sentence - you only need to sign up to the site and it is free as well). The short film is extremely lyrical and it's hard to grasp what it is exactly about. The letter mentioned in the title is focused upon at first, but then the film ventures elsewhere. Most of the film consists of beautiful panning shots of houses and jungle. The form is extremely hypnotic in its sound design as well - it reminds me of the director's earlier film, Tropical Malady. In short, the short film is an interesting production although the content is quite baffling.

Score: 6 out of 10

The Cat Piano

While reading /Film today, I found this article. By reading that article, I found this intriguing short film called The Cat Piano (2009). It is an 8-minute animated short film set in a world populated by cats. Its bebopesque, fantastic art direction is not the only interesting thing about it: the film is also narrated by none other than Nick Cave. There is no dialogue, but the poetic narration can be heard throughout the film. The entire film works like an epic poem, which is certainly interesting. Its form is ridiculously well thought and the world is easy to "get into". As much as I loved the narration, the film's content is a bit dry otherwise, but it works well in general. It is an impressive short film which I would recommend to anyone.

Score: 7 out of 10

The Skywalk Is Gone

The Skywalk Is Gone (2002) is Tsai Ming-liang's short film which shows what happened to the main characters between What Time Is It There? (2001) and The Wayward Cloud (2005). The content is unimpressive, but it is slightly interesting for the fans of Tsai's films. It functions only as a small fraction of a connection between the two films, and as that it is only OK. Tsai's form is dead-on though, and that's the extremely redeeming factor of the film. It is not different from his other films, but it is perfectly executed AGAIN.

Score: 6 out of 10

Une catastrophe

The legendary French film director Jean-Luc Godard made a trailer for the 2008 Viennale film festival. This trailer was called Une catastrophe, and it is Godard's poetic way to briefly look at violence and love in films. Its length is only ONE MINUTE. The short film is a montage of video and sound clips from other movies - including Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925). The trailer / short film also features a German poem. Une catastrophe is eligible for my project so I thought I should briefly mention it on this blog after I watched it. It's a solid work of art, but nothing more.

Score: 5 out of 10

PS: You can even watch it on YouTube!

A Conversation with God

I happened to find Tsai Ming-liang's rare short film, A Conversation with God (2001), on YouTube. I decided to watch it because I'm very interested in Tsai's filmography. He made this short film while working on What Time Is It There? (2002), and I guess it is about religious rituals. The short film is put together from documentary footage that Tsai has shot on his own, it seems. There is hardly any coherency in the film. We have shots of a religious ritual, a stripper's performance, lots of dead fish and yet another religious ritual, the purpose of which couldnt be understood. I'm not wondering why Tsai hasnt put a lot of effort into this film because it seems to me that he simply took his camera and wanted to shoot something and experiment with it. All these different scenes/sections/sequences are separated by shots of white tunnels. It gives the film a clear structure and rhythm so that it is a little easier to follow. There is nothing redeeming in the form either. It is a simple point-and-shoot film, with no effort put into the form. The rating might sound horrible, but it wasnt a waste of 30 minutes for me though. Whatever Tsai does, I'll do my best to watch it.

Score: 2 out of 10