jcCTVA 310
Tim Halloran
27 September 2017
A Short Review of “Sherlock Jr.” and “The Navigator”
On September 21st, 2017 at 7 PM, I watched two remarkable films, namely “Sherlock Jr.,” and “The Navigator.” They were mainly produced, acted, and directed by the same person, Buster Keaton in 1924. These two films are typical examples of Buster Keaton’s featured style, a romantic, comedic silent film with a happy ending. The setting of mise en scene and the storytelling skills that Buster Keaton used are forward and experimental.
“Sherlock Jr.” and “The Navigator” are romantic silent films and their characters share similar goals, chasing the love of their life. In detail, Buster Keaton in "Sherlock Jr." acts as a poor theatre worker who has to compete with a rival in love (a thief) and try to engage with a woman. At the end of the film, the theatre worker gets back together with the woman even though he was framed by his rival and asked to leave the woman alone. In "The Navigator," Keaton acts as Rollo Treadway, a man who goes on a honeymoon alone after failing to marry his dream wife. However, Rollo inadvertently meets a woman on a ship and they embark on a risky journey, but Rollo gets a kiss from the woman at the end. "Sherlock Jr.” and "The Navigator" both end in happiness: the protagonist gets together with the love of his life.
Although these two features have a different story setting and character backgrounds, their main roles still play similar characters. For instance, Rollo Treadway in "The Navigator" is an honorable man who was born in a first-class family, whereas the theatre worker in "Sherlock Jr." is poor and debased. They live in a different world but share similar personalities. They never laugh, but they are sincere and both have a warm heart. Nonetheless, they are not good at putting their ideas across and pleasing others; these protagonists in different classes still share similar characteristics: they are both unsmiling and inarticulate, but sincere.
The most remarkable scene that Keaton directed is the dream scene in "Sherlock. Jr." The scene takes place at a classical theatre, which is on a movie screen stage. These dream sequences wherein the theatre worker walks in or out of the movie screen were very dramatic; the continuity of editing was also an excellent arrangement and the actions were perfectly matched.
Overall, “Sherlock Jr. " and "The Navigator" are typical examples of Buster Keaton’s featured style, brought forward in both films. Before I took part in the retrospective of “Sherlock Jr. ", I had seen some of Keaton’s feature films, namely "The Saphead," "Three Ages," "Our Hospitality" and several of his short films. However, the night of September 21st, 2017 became my best silent film experience. I love the feature of "Sherlock Jr." Furthermore, the retrospective of Buster Keaton's features also made me one of Buster Keaton’s enthusiasts.
Buster Keaton的電影是一口滿溢著想象與靈感之力的泉眼,藝術(shù)家、作家如果才思遭遇阻塞,而產(chǎn)不出東西時(shí),不妨從工作臺(tái)起身去舀一瓢來(lái)享用。(很慚愧,一直以來(lái)我對(duì)他的了解只是作為Colin Firth的偶像……)
《The Navigator》中,一個(gè)憂郁的小個(gè)子公子哥決定今天就要結(jié)婚,未等來(lái)答復(fù)就做了一切度蜜月的準(zhǔn)備,其中就包括買(mǎi)好了在海上航行的船票。他唐突地出現(xiàn),用悲傷的語(yǔ)調(diào)向自己的心上人求婚 "Will you marry me?",但富家小姐礙于矜持,在管家把帽子掛好手杖放下之前便拒絕了他。
"Going on a honeymoon without a bride is like singing the words of 'Kiss me again' to the music of 'Alice, where art thou?' "
在那之后,這兩個(gè)嚴(yán)重缺乏自理能力的年輕貴族陰差陽(yáng)錯(cuò)上了同一艘幽靈船,所有的船員都遭遇了綁架,為了生存下去他們不得不自力更生。從用煮沸的海水沏咖啡豆,用大砍刀開(kāi)罐頭,尋聲找人上演腳前腳后的追逐大戰(zhàn),窗外老男人頭像蕩來(lái)蕩去,沒(méi)有一個(gè)煮雞蛋可以壽終正寢而不被摔得頭破蛋花流,再到兩周后他們用大小滑輪組等各式工具將廚房變成半自動(dòng)化機(jī)械工廠……(基頓的另一個(gè)夢(mèng)想便是成為土木工程師,他對(duì)機(jī)械的熱愛(ài)也體現(xiàn)在了他的電影里)這當(dāng)中他們也自然而然地得到了成長(zhǎng)。
但長(zhǎng)大的過(guò)程美好中又充滿苦澀,當(dāng)他們終于看到陸地,卻又用望遠(yuǎn)鏡瞥見(jiàn)了興致勃勃迎接他們的食人族,于是基頓穿潛水服修船、放danger標(biāo)志牌、用龍蝦當(dāng)鉗子、同金槍魚(yú)擊劍、用爆竹當(dāng)大炮卻沒(méi)料到點(diǎn)著的小炮被纏在腳上跟著主人走、敵人架起椰子樹(shù)攻船,基頓就在樹(shù)的另一端摘椰子反抗,其間還有他穿著老式潛水服戴著厚重頭盔登陸酷似水神降臨嚇跑食人族抱得美人歸,美人執(zhí)槳?jiǎng)澇錆M空氣因此可以仰面漂浮的英雄……
最終,當(dāng)二人棄船而逃望著像螞蟻般涌現(xiàn)的土著,絕望著沒(méi)入水下,卻因?yàn)槟_踩潛艇而又浮出水面……兩個(gè)患難與共憂傷又快樂(lè)的年輕人跳進(jìn)艙內(nèi),他們得救了,而食人族站在潛艇的上方以為已將獵物俘獲而開(kāi)心地跳起了奔放的舞蹈,Ignorance is a bliss,無(wú)知是福。
開(kāi)頭交代背景。之后是陰錯(cuò)陽(yáng)差的海上“蜜月旅行”。遇到救兵卻又因誤會(huì)錯(cuò)過(guò)。
以前的人都亂丟煙頭,并且不熄滅的嗎?
互相追逐想找對(duì)方那段,很《恐怖游輪》。
劃船追趕的BMG很熟悉啊。
高空跳水這個(gè)是來(lái)真的,基頓真的很拼命。
濕身誘惑。
畫(huà)像那個(gè)笑死。事實(shí)證明,人嚇人真的是可以嚇?biāo)廊恕?
一排門(mén)開(kāi)啟、關(guān)閉,很恐怖片。
玩牌這個(gè)很無(wú)聊,雖然是想苦中作樂(lè)。
接下來(lái)又到基頓展示各種半自動(dòng)餐飲日常發(fā)明的時(shí)間。
危機(jī)再次降臨。
遭遇原始部落。
“人舟”這個(gè)太無(wú)厘頭了。
椰樹(shù)梯子這個(gè)好有創(chuàng)意。想起印度神片《巴霍巴利王》里有“樹(shù)弓”這一神武器,好像也是椰樹(shù)。
潛水艇真是神仙救兵。
這個(gè)片子還說(shuō)明了一個(gè)真理:向女孩子求婚得選擇一個(gè)合適的時(shí)間。
夜,茫茫大海,孤舟,一男一女,未知的危險(xiǎn)(各種天災(zāi)人禍)。這個(gè)片子可以說(shuō)開(kāi)了恐怖動(dòng)作片的先河。
Going on a honeymoon without a bride is like singing the words of “Kiss me again“ to the music of “Alice ,Where Art Thou”
Honestly, that girl in the navy's suit turned me on..
看的59分鐘版本。從此認(rèn)識(shí)“冷面笑匠"Buster Keaton,說(shuō)冷面但我覺(jué)得他更有憂郁氣質(zhì)呢w沒(méi)有聲音對(duì)話但也蠻緊張,明明只有1小時(shí)卻覺(jué)得故事講的很飽滿不少有趣的地方,想象力給贊。有機(jī)會(huì)看他的福爾摩斯二世去=。=
從笨手笨腳的海上菜鳥(niǎo)進(jìn)階成機(jī)械能手&機(jī)關(guān)專(zhuān)家,并成功升華感情,也算沒(méi)白吃苦,雖然開(kāi)場(chǎng)某些劇情顯然被遺忘了……充分利用船體空間進(jìn)行追逐,利用各種巧合和誤會(huì)制造笑點(diǎn),又驚悚又搞笑,簡(jiǎn)直可愛(ài)無(wú)敵,動(dòng)作場(chǎng)面后世效仿太多,幾乎已成模板。比起機(jī)械裝置,水下攝影更驚艷,神奇的基頓。
雜?!獫撍ㄉ詈z影)、皮筏艇等,最后一個(gè)鏡頭(翻滾)。這片如果有聲音和色彩應(yīng)該效果會(huì)好一點(diǎn),有幾處都需要用顏色來(lái)傳達(dá)信息,不過(guò)也影響不大。
故事依然很沉悶。這部電影尤其突顯了基頓電影里角色人物只是推動(dòng)特技場(chǎng)面和雜耍奇觀的道具而已,除此之外不需要任何性格和情緒。在基頓與女主互相尋找的場(chǎng)面中,整艘船才是鏡頭的主角,而上竄下跳穿梭其中的人物顯得那么渺小。這讓人想起馬戲團(tuán)里的表演,雜技者和舞臺(tái)上的道具功能相似,都為了吸引觀眾
基頓開(kāi)始單飛后,電影史上就多了一位天才。這部片子有許多先進(jìn)場(chǎng)面調(diào)度和攝影技巧:比如兩個(gè)人在船上互相尋找,巧妙利用了船上的樓層,調(diào)度非常巧妙。晚上睡在甲板上,女主對(duì)男主的誤會(huì),當(dāng)看到自己處在邊緣有落水危險(xiǎn)時(shí),女主嚇得抱住了男主的頭,這個(gè)真是笑cry。電影的地點(diǎn)設(shè)定在封閉空間。水下攝影
片子有些悶,輪船、雜耍、潛水、潛水艇,光看道具都覺(jué)得基頓的片子永遠(yuǎn)那么洋氣,演得也努力。
沒(méi)有tinting導(dǎo)致進(jìn)船艙開(kāi)燈的動(dòng)作完全失效。(MoMA也沒(méi)有覺(jué)得有必要講一下嗎?)第一次聽(tīng)Ben Model,無(wú)比佩服他對(duì)默片/檔案的熱情和學(xué)識(shí),策展很厲害,即興發(fā)揮也很熟稔,但他的配樂(lè)對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)還是過(guò)于穩(wěn)重了呢(
(7/10)基頓是不是拍著拍著把某些人給忘了……………………………… 中間那段鬧鬼情節(jié)笑慘,原來(lái)鬼片是這么拍出來(lái)的哇哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈
偏激發(fā)言)誰(shuí)不會(huì)感嘆一句“巴斯特基頓是個(gè)天才”呢
《航海家》和《將軍號(hào)》是基頓最喜歡的作品。第29分鐘模擬輪船傾斜、結(jié)尾模擬潛水艇傾斜的手段太超前。第34分鐘的機(jī)械化設(shè)備很有創(chuàng)意。水下片段太驚艷。穿著潛水服抽煙、danger標(biāo)志牌、龍蝦物盡其用、金槍魚(yú)擊劍、猴子打基頓、火炮跟著走腦洞大開(kāi),想象力爆棚;穿上追逐、劃人肉帆船、椰樹(shù)搭梯子更是神來(lái)之筆。PS:鬧鬼的頭像其實(shí)是導(dǎo)演唐納德·克里斯普。原本基頓還用1200條道具魚(yú)拍了一段給魚(yú)指揮交通的片段,可惜最后剪掉了?!逗胶<摇芳o(jì)錄片:https://www.bilibili.com/video/av13308582
美好的聯(lián)環(huán)巧合造就的動(dòng)作喜劇,驚喜不到最后一分鐘都停不下來(lái),90多年前的基頓已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)了像庫(kù)布里克諾蘭一樣“翻滾重力”,還完美玩轉(zhuǎn)了把水下冒險(xiǎn),和食人族的大戰(zhàn)也是無(wú)比精彩。
機(jī)械化的廚房是亮點(diǎn),延續(xù)了《稻草人》中房子的創(chuàng)意。變身皮劃艇一段腫麼想到的哈哈~~
私以為基頓的電影應(yīng)該開(kāi)發(fā)成一款游戲。。。
如果有基頓這樣笨拙憂傷的男孩子問(wèn)我“Will you marry me” 我說(shuō)什么也會(huì)答應(yīng)他
一艘近萬(wàn)噸的輪船,讓人與機(jī)器對(duì)抗的母題發(fā)揮到極致?;D的潛水衣打扮和下水特技場(chǎng)面,當(dāng)時(shí)都是令人耳目一新的高科技,卻幾乎要了基頓條命。
(8.5)基頓對(duì)于機(jī)械的利用在二十年代簡(jiǎn)直登峰造極,也包括同年的福爾摩斯二世以及稍后的將軍號(hào),那倆也是我的影史百佳。相對(duì)來(lái)說(shuō)這部把超過(guò)一人的冒險(xiǎn)分?jǐn)偟讲煌录芯筒幌衲莾刹坑兄鴮?duì)于一個(gè)人一件事足夠?qū)Wr(shí)那般巨大的張力。另外,是不是有群演借機(jī)騷擾凱瑟琳了???
21年短片the boat的長(zhǎng)片版,我想成龍也是姓keaton的。
利用海船立體空間營(yíng)造的男女主「不相逢」,一閃而過(guò)的利用機(jī)械制造有趣的「生活工具」,利用航海晃動(dòng)制造「午夜遇鬼」,后半部水下修補(bǔ)都是放到今天看牛逼十足的創(chuàng)意與編排,在基頓電影中,已經(jīng)可見(jiàn)電影工業(yè)在非電腦特效時(shí)代的巔峰。