The General Movie Review

When people think of silent films the first name that springs to mind is usually Charlie Chaplin. However another great star of the silent film era is Buster Keaton and one of his most beloved films is the 1926 classic The General. It tells the tale of a southern train engineer during the time of the American Civil War. The lead character is hopelessly in love with a young woman but falls out of her favour when circumstances beyond his control prevent him from signing up for the confederate army. When his cherished locomotive is stolen by Union spies he sees an opportunity to prove his bravery. Luckily for viewers the resulting pursuit leads to lots of laughs and plenty of fun.
Like most silent films the plot, which in this case is loosely based on a true story is relatively simple and easy to follow. However that doesn’t mean the movie is without depth. Using some great facial expressions Keaton is able to portray a wide range of emotions and the love story ranges from charmingly cheerful during the couples’ first encounter, to more delicate and deep during a mid film storm. Of course this being a comedy laughs are the main attraction. Slapstick may be one of the first and most basic forms of film comedy but it is still a very effective one. The stunts performed by Keaton are an incredible source of laughs and their audaciousness even more astounding considering all the special effect techniques that would have been unavailable at the time. The war scenes may seem quaint by today’s standards but at the time it was a big budget feature and remains the most expensive silent film ever produced. They do get across the frenzied nature of battle and the serious nature of the soldiers provides a great contrast to Keaton’s antics.
The term silent films is actually misleading since they were almost always accompanied by music and the version I watched had a simple but effective score which did the important job of conveying the tone and emotional state for each scene. The film may lack the dialogue and visual dazzling of modern masterpieces but still delivers on what is perhaps the most important part of a film experience, the ability to make you feel. It will thrill you, it will make you smile, and it will make you laugh out loud. Don’t let its release date scare you away the film still retains its magic over 80 years later. If you are interested in film history or silent movies seeing it is a no brainer. However for newcomers to the genre it is a great choice as well and with a minimal runtime there is no reason you shouldn’t check it out