The General
After writing the blog post on „Shiri“, I have dreamed of a rather long and suspenseful story in which I was among a group of normal people who had to fight (for whatever reason) with a bunch of armed professional killers. Does that mean that I would have dreamed of androids if I went to sleep after writing the post on „Blade Runner“? Hrr hrr.
„The General“ is a nice movie to dream about. I think I have never dreamt of trains, and this film is perhaps the greatest train-loving film ever – after all, the title of the film is named after the train, its true main protagonist. (Or not?)
So I bought this DVD on a whim. I have seen quite a few Charlie Chaplin movies but no single Keaton except for a delightful short film (whose name I have forgotten, it was about Keaton being a newlywed husband building his new house and encountering many funny problems with it). The DVD said that „The General“ was Keaton’s most acclaimed film and since it was only 3 euros at the Zweitausendeins in Leipzig, I had to get it. (You never get DVDs that cheap on Amazon, „The General“ for instance is 8 euros there.)
Now, I have finally gotten the opportunity to watch it, and indeed it was a lot of fun. While I wasn’t a big fan of the story itself (Locomotive driver tries to impress his wife by saving her from evil yankees and becoming a war hero), the execution was extremely enjoyable and downright funny. It was less ha ha ha funny as Chaplin’s films and none of it was touchy (in fact, the female character was surprisingly stupid, although she was far from being your average damsel in distress). While Keaton really has a very sophisticated, strong and subtle humour, from what I can see, I understand why his movies are less memorable. Chaplin’s film have this little bit of emotion and cuteness that I am missing in „The General“. All in all, right now, I’d say it’s a tie for them, and I definitely need to see more.
One Reply to “For autistic boys”