Buster Keaton: Existential Slapstick

Silent film star Buster Keaton remains one of the most daring, inventive, and hilarious comedians in cinematic history. While Keaton’s physical courage, conceptual innovations and technical breakthroughs remain unequalled, his most remarkable talent is his acting. Drawing on extensive film clips, we examine how his famous "Great Stone Face" communicates a panoply of emotions without speaking or even changing expression. This ability to prompt the audience to intuit feelings that aren’t explicitly depicted on screen inspired generations of modern performers like Jackie Chan, Johnny Depp, and Tom Cruise. Join us for an overview of Keaton’s amazing career, from his first (and pretty much last) onscreen smile at age 22 to doing pratfalls at 70—scenes that show both his cinematic ingenuity and almost unbelievable physicality, including both the most expensive and the most dangerous stunts in Hollywood history. See why Orson Welles called Keaton “a supreme artist” … and, not incidentally, really funny.