Buster Keaton: The Genius Destroyed by Hollywood

Feb 7, 2016

0h 52m

★ 7.8

Overview

In 1926, Buster Keaton was at the peak of his glory and wealth. By 1933, he had reached rock bottom. How, in the space of a few years, did this uncontested genius of silent films, go from the status of being a widely-worshipped star to an alcoholic and solitary fallen idol? With a spotlight on the 7 years during which his life changed, using extracts of Keaton’s films as magnifying mirrors, the documentary recounts the dramatic life of this creative genius and the Hollywood studios.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Quark Productions

ARTE

Buster Keaton: The Genius Destroyed by Hollywood Trailers

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Cast

Self

Buster Keaton

In the 1968 movement in Paris, Jean-Luc Godard made a 16mm, 3-minute long film, Film-tract No.1968, Le Rouge, in collaboration with French artist Gérard Fromanger. Starting with the shot identifying its title written in red paint on the Le Monde for 31 July 1968, the film shows the process of making Fromanger’s poster image, which is thick red paint flows over a tri-color French flag. —Hye Young Min

7.5

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

Sep 23, 1927

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

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7.0

The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk

Sep 2, 2007

Film historians, and survivors from the nearly 30-year struggle to bring sound to motion pictures take the audience from the early failed attempts by scientists and inventors, to the triumph of the talkies.

7.1

Nanook of the North

Jun 11, 1922

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

7.4

Visions of Lourdes

Jan 1, 1932

Charles Dekeukeleire, then a questioning Catholic, was spurred into making this documentary on a pilgrimage with the Catholic Young Workers’ Movement. The director’s approach is one of critical reflection; A film emotional and fervent, even acerbic.

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0.0

The Wheat Industry

Invalid Date

Tells the life story of a grain of wheat In Casselton, North Dakota.

0.0

Photographic Studies in Hypnosis: Abnormal Psychology

Jan 1, 1938

Silent film showcasing hypnosis and its effects.

5.2

Carmencita

Mar 14, 1894

The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.

6.1

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge

Oct 15, 1888

A film by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, shot in late October 1888, showing pedestrians and carriages crossing Leeds Bridge.

6.0

Bicycle

Jan 1, 1965

Rhythmic composition of moving photographs of cyclists in Amsterdam, ‘set’ to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

0.0

Amazon: Longest River in the World

Jan 1, 1918

Documentary by Portuguese Silvino Santos, about the Amazon, its flora, fauna, its inhabitants and among other wonderful images from the beginning of the 20th century with alternating close-up shots of caimans, jaguars and tropical flora with footage of Indigenous rituals--including some of the earliest known moving images of the Indigenous Witoto people--and longer sequences showcasing the region’s extractive industries: rubber, the Brazil nut, timber, fishing, even the egret feathers that were a staple of women’s fashion at the time.

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3.8

Boxing Match; or, Glove Contest

Aug 3, 1896

Staged boxing match between Sergeant-Instructor Barrett and Sergeant Pope, with a round, interval, and knockout.

4.6

Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs

Mar 5, 1895

A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring one dog jumping through hoops and another dancing in a costume, which was considered lost until footage from an 1896 Fairground Programme was identified as being from this film.

0.0

Sheep Coming Through Chute, Humuula Ranch, Hawaii

Aug 11, 1906

Sheep bound through a narrow opening, followed by a panoramic vista of the flock running through a meadow.

7.4

Thimble Theater

Jan 1, 1938

One of Joseph Cornell’s funniest films, Thimble Theater is structured like a vaudeville variety show about nature.

5.0

Dickson Greeting

May 20, 1891

William K.L. Dickson brings his hat from his one hand to the other and moves his head slightly, as a small nod toward the audience. This was the first film produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company to be shown to public audiences and the press.