The Goat

Frequent readers of my comments know that I believe movies can change you, can hurt or build. At least I make a pretty good case when it comes to heavy films. There are some very competent ones of these, "good" by many measures... that depending on how you are building yourself should be avoided.

But what about comedy? Shouldn't it just be taken as it comes? Isn't the whole idea about the flow?

Well, I know that some films make me laugh and later feel bad about it. And some amuse in different trivial ways, But when I think of funny, real funny that lasts, its gotta be the Marxes and this guy Keaton.

This humor is physical, but instead of pain, it is based on the unexpected. Cinematic surprise. And this movie, to my mind is one of his best because he relies less on his sad character and more on the movement of the thing.

Was this the first filmmaker who mastered it all, writing, directing, editing, acting?

The thing about this is how it builds and builds. The pacing of the episodes, for sure. That doesn't seem so remarkable today. But the pacing of the stunts within that framework is remarkable in how the energy is compounded: setup, burst and faster and faster with the trigger.

Its really something to see. And at the end, after you've seen it the first time and been surprised — and laughed, then you can wonder whether comedy can be as powerful as the other film experiences. Maybe so.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Not all, but most of this story is Buster being mistaken for "Dead Shot Dan," a notorious criminal.

There really is no story, just a series of adventures to show off Buster's physical talents, which are amazing, and his comedic timing. The 27-minute film is basically one adventure after the other mostly involving someone chasing our hero.

Earlier, it's a couple of policemen on their beats racing through the streets after Keaton and later it's "Big Joe" Roberts, a rotund cop - and father a girl Buster is interested in - who chases him. Those latter scenes were the best I thought, with a lot of clever gags involving the hotel elevator where Big Joe and his daughter live. That was Keaton at his best.

It's just a madcap half hour that makes little sense, but cares? It's Buster at his slapstick best, or near it, and so it serves its purpose: to entertain us. Just think: 85 years after this film was made there are people (like me) still discovering and enjoying these silent comedy classics! Cool!

Buster Keaton is walking past a jail when he grabs the bars and peers inside. On the other side of the bars is notorious murderer "Dead Shot Dan" who is being photographed. Seeing that Keaton is behind him, Dan ducks out of shot and once he escapes, a photo of Keaton, seemly behind bars is published. As a result of this Keaton is forced to go on the run from various police officers including a persistent Police Chief who just won't give up.

I watch a lot of Silent Comedy but if I had to ask someone to watch just one short silent picture it may well be this one. The Goat is packed full of wonderful jokes, ingenious set ups and incredible stunt work. I laughed more at twenty seven minutes of this film than I have during probably every comedy I've seen so far this year combined.

What makes this film so great is the sheer quantity and quality of gags. While essentially a chase comedy, this is to the Keystone Cops what BBC4 is to ITV2. Sure they have similarities, but one is far more sophisticated that the other. Keaton seems to find endless possibilities in places to hide and ways of escape, only to have them backfire on him. The way that the gags join together feels effortless. Nothing about the film feels forced despite the huge number of jokes and stunts. Keaton never creates a tenuous link from one to another, the whole film feels smooth and calculated while remaining frantic and fast paced.

As well as being incredibly funny, this is also quite surreal in places, in keeping with Keaton's cannon. Some of the more surreal moments include a clay horse melting under Keaton's weight and perhaps one of Keaton's most famous scenes in which a train approaches from the distance and stops immediately in front of the camera showing Keaton, stone faced, riding the cow catcher. This isn't really played for laughs but you laugh at the audacity of the shot. Perhaps the most surreal scene involves an elevator chase in which Keaton and the Police Chief (Joe Roberts) are involved in a chase through an apartment block. Keaton manipulates the mechanical elevator floor indicator to his advantage (even though this wouldn't really effect where the elevator was) and by pulling it hard and past the top floor Keaton forces the elevator out of the roof. The scene is like a cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and something Terry Gilliam would produce. It's a wonderfully clever and funny scene.

Something else that stands out, as with any Keaton picture, is the star's athleticism and gymnastic abilities. It sometimes seems as though Keaton is made of rubber as he jumps, falls, stretches and squeezes with ease both in and out of trouble. Keaton, who once broke his neck during a film (and didn't realise until years later when he had an x-ray) was never afraid to put himself in harms way and that is certainly true here. In The Goat he can be seen jumping through windows and off vehicles, sliding down elevator shafts and falling of a variety of apparatus. During all of this his expression never changes.

To call The Goat a masterpiece would be no exaggeration. It is easily amongst the greatest silent shorts of the 1920s and amongst Keaton's best work. The humour, timing and plot don't feel out of place today. It's the sort of film that you'll be afraid to look away from for just a second or two in case you miss a gag or glance. This is comedic perfection.

www.attheback.blogspot.com

The comments on this page attesting to the genius of this film are all on target. After more than eighty years, it's still fresh; last year's Hollywood comedies are stale by comparison. I was lucky enough to see this screened at Webster University with a live, contemporary soundtrack performed by the After Quartet. Not only did these guys do a first rate job, but it made me realize how liberating it is for the classics of silent film to be performed without a hokey, melodramatic "style pianola" soundtrack.

A simple contrivance--the Great Stone Face is mistaken for an escaped mass murderer--gives Buster Keaton room for changes rung on a theme that will make your jaw hang. The amazing thing here is the protean story invention--Keaton uses an offhand set-up to generate every kind of reversed-expectation gag. He shortens, elongates, and crash-dives out of left field every expected joke. The astonishment here is the surrealist freeness with storytelling, not just the masterly composition and choreography. THE GOAT feels as gaily, cartwheelingly modern as UN CHIEN ANDALOU. And more than even some revered Keaton features, it's a masterpiece of invention.