The General (Buster Keaton, U.S.A. 1926, 75 minutes)

As I mentioned last night, The General is considered by many to be Buster Keaton's masterpiece. He was fond of it, in part, because of the film's historical accuracy, not so much in the details of the story, but its appearance. He was also proud of its tight plotting, the symmetry of its two chases, for example. For this week, I'd like you to reflect a bit on the choices in the film's cinematography. We talked about the limited, but effective use of close-ups, as well as the film's use of long and extreme long shots. Please talk a bit about how these choices contribute to the film's comedy, or to its perspective on history, namely the Civil War and the myths and values associated with it. If The General's cinematographic choices are more sophisticated than those of the shorts we watched earlier in class, what illustrates their sophistication, and what more complex meanings do these choices convey? Okay, looking forward to your comments!