Sherlock Jr. [1924]
Sherlock Jr. was
a hilarious physical comedy alright, but more importantly, it was an astounding
reflection on the medium of cinema itself, with all its illusions and
artificialities. It starts with Keaton as a movie projectionist, an aspiring
detective, and in love with a girl, only to be falsely framed by the film’s
villain. Though decidedly funny till now, this is the point where the movie
jumped to a different level altogether. Sad and heartbroken he falls asleep
while projecting a film, and in his dream, he finds the movie’s characters
replaced by the girl and the villain, and he, now an accomplished sleuth, enters
into the movie by seamlessly blurring the ‘fourth wall’. Armed with skills,
resourcefulness and infinite luck, he is now invincible, and through one deliberately
impossible move after another, he beats the bad guys and wins the girl. The
movie comprised of a host of incredibly dangerous stunts – he even broke his
neck (albeit, not fatally) during one such stunt! It was also filled with brilliant
slapstick comedy, deadpan humour, wit, and ironies, making it a laugh-riot.
However, what spectacularly stood out was one breathtaking montage that was
jaw-dropping in its ideation and execution – as he enters into the screen, with
the bemused audience watching on (making the self-consciousness of the situation
blatantly obvious), he suddenly finds himself at the mercy of a series of rapid
cuts accompanied by drastic changes of locations. Such audacious yet loving
techno-philosophical subversion of the medium has rarely, if ever, been achieved in the
history of this artform. And yes, one must also watch the movie to realize what
a terrific pool player he was.
Director: Buster Keaton
Genre: Comedy/Slapstick/Fantasy/Silent Film
Language: English
Country: US
4 comments:
Great film, my second favourite Keaton right behind The General. What other Keatons have you seen? Is this your favourite by him?
The General is the only other Keaton that I've seen so far (I'm not counting Limelight here as he had only a small supporting part in that). I'd personally place the two on par, despite this being a short - maybe not in terms of sheer comic or anarchist value, but surely on the merit of that incredible sequence of rapid cuts when he enters into the movie.
By the way, do share your name.
Great capsule review of one of the silent era's most celebrated comedies by a silent clown genius. Many unforgettable moments, my own favorite being the pool game. This was the inspiration for Woody Allen's PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.
Yes, the pool game was hilarious. Buster Keaton might just have easily built a career in that game, had he decided not to enter the movie business! And yeah, this does remain as an inpiration to Woody's much loved Purple Rose of Cairo - thanks for pointing that out.
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