SCREENING: The General (dir. Buster Keaton; USA, 1926; 79 mins.)

About this event

We mark 100 years since silent cinema reached its extraordinary peak as an international art form – distinct and different from the sound cinema that dominated screens from the 1930s, and, in some respects, superior. This season, entitled MASTERWORKS OF SILENT CINEMA, 1924–1926: Classics & Rediscoveries c elebrates both acknowledged masterpieces and bold rediscoveries from across the world, offering a rich cross-section of styles, from realism and psychological drama to avant-garde experimentation. One of the most expensive silent comedies ever made, Buster Keaton’s The General was based on a true event of the American Civil War. In the film, Confederate and Union soldiers are replaced by battling locomotives, and Buster personally performs more dangerous stunts than in any of his other films. Filmed in Oregon, using original Civil War rolling stock and locations, “every shot has the authenticity and the unassumingly correct composition of a Mathew Brady Civil War photograph” (David Robinson). The restored version with a score by Carl Davis was included in the first twenty-five “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant films” in the Library of Congresses National Film Registry, and regarded by Orson Welles as “the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made and perhaps the greatest film ever made”. Doors open 5.30, for drinks & nibbles. Films start 6.30 with a brief introduction from the curators.