Written, directed, and narrated by Peter Bogdanovich, The Great Buster: A Celebration is a documentary film that explores the life, career, and influence of silent film star/filmmaker Buster Keaton. Featuring interviews from various filmmakers, historians, actors, and comedians, the film follows the man’s life as well as his struggles to be relevant when silent films ended as well as the long overdue adulation he would ultimately receive before his passing in 1966 at the age of 70. The result is a rich and exhilarating film from Peter Bogdanovich.
In the 1920s, one of the biggest stars of the silent film era was Buster Keaton whose stone-faced look and elaborate approach to physical comedy and action as it would influence many in the years to come. The film explores not just Keaton’s life including his struggles to make movies during the post-silent film era but also in some of his failures he would endure and comeback during the late 1940s. Narrated by its writer/director Peter Bogdanovich who shows a clip of himself on The Dick Cavett Show in the early 1970s with filmmaker Frank Capra as they talk about Keaton’s influence in cinema as other filmmakers ranging from comedy filmmakers like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner to the likes of Werner Herzog, Quentin Tarantino, and Jon Watts as they all talk about what Keaton brought to the world of cinema. Watts especially as he reveals that Keaton’s stone-faced expression was an inspiration to the look of Spider-Man under his mask in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The film also goes into depth into Keaton’s personal life through historians and those who knew him including actors Norman Lloyd and Dick Van Dyke while comedian Richard Lewis talks about his friendship with Keaton’s widow Eleanor Norris as she would give him her husband’s famed hat. Actors/comedians such as Cybill Shepherd, Nick Kroll, Bill Hader, French Stewart, and Johnny Knoxville also talk about Keaton’s films and his approach to physical comedy as Knoxville reveals that part of the reasons he created Jackass and its films was to do stupid stunts but also to understand how Keaton was able to perfect the stunts and set pieces he created in his films. Much of the narrative that Bogdanovich creates is largely straightforward but it also play into the decline in his career as it relates to his time working with MGM where Keaton lost a lot of his creative control as several colleagues including Charles Chaplin urged Keaton to not sign with MGM but Keaton ended up taking the advice of those who were managing his business as it ended up being a bad business deal.
After two failed marriages and a career that is nearly dead, it would be his marriage to MGM dancer Eleanor Norris that would help as he would be hired by MGM to write gags and such as well as direct a gag for other filmmakers. The work for MGM and appearances in commercials and television would help revive Keaton’s career and financial fortunes as it would give him a memorable cameo in Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard as well as a memorable appearance in Chaplin’s 1952 film Limelight where the two shared the screen together. Lloyd revealed that Chaplin brought Keaton just to work with him and help him out as they created a great scene while the finale was partially directed by Keaton who helped Chaplin out with the scene. Many also discussed that as great as a filmmaker and physical comedian that Keaton is, some say he is underrated as an actor as historians and filmmakers do feel that Keaton had a lot more to offer. Even in his final years as it play into the films he was doing such as Beach Blanket Bingo as he was dealing with ill health but was enjoying his work.
Much of Bogdanovich’s direction is straightforward in the interviews which were shot with cinematographer Dustin Pearlman as it allow those who are interviewed the chance to be in their own world but also express their love for Keaton. Yet, it is through the footage of Keaton’s films and other archival footage that is the meat of the film with the aid of editor Bill Berg-Hillinger who would cultivate all of the footage including some of the rare TV clips and commercials. One aspect of the film that is crucial to the film are clips from the documentary Buster Keaton Rides Again which was a making-of documentary about a short film Keaton was making as it would be one of his last films. Sound editor David Barnaby would gather some audio archives as well as do some remastering in some of the film clips while music supervisor Chris Robertson cultivates an array of music scores from all of the film that Keaton was in as it help play into the humor and somber aspects of his life.
The Great Buster: A Celebration is an incredible film from Peter Bogdanovich. It’s a documentary that does a lot to explore the genius of Buster Keaton as well as the legacy he’s created in the world of film and the admirers he had gained for many years. Even as it showcases his films and why people love them as well as a look into his struggles after his years of stardom and control had faded away only to regain his dignity and overdue adulation he would receive for his gift. In the end, The Great Buster: A Celebration is a marvelous film from Peter Bogdanovich.
Buster Keaton Films: (The Rough House) – (One Week (1920 Short)) – (Convict 13) – (The Scarecrow (1920 short)) – (Neighbors (1920 short)) – (The Haunted House (1921 short)) – (Hard Luck (1921 short)) – (The High Sign) – (The Goat (1921 short)) – (The Playhouse) – (The Boat) – (The Paleface) – (Cops) – (My Wife’s Relations) – (The Blacksmith) – (The Frozen North) – (The Electric House) – (Day Dreams (1922 short)) – (The Balloonatic) – (The Love Nest) – (Three Ages) – (Our Hospitality) – Sherlock Jr. - The Navigator (1924 film) - Seven Chances - (Go West (1925 film)) – (Battling Butler) – The General (1926 film) - (College (1927 film)) – Steamboat Bill Jr. - The Cameraman - (Spite Marriage) – (The Gold Ghost) – (Allez Oop) – (Tars and Stripes) – (Gland Slam Opera) – (One Run Elmer) – (Blue Blazes) – (Mixed Magic) – (Love Nest on Wheels)
Peter Bogdanovich Films: Targets - (Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women) – (Directed by John Ford) – The Last Picture Show - (What’s Up Doc?) – Paper Moon - (Daisy Miller) – (At Long Last Love) – (Nickelodeon) – (Saint Jack) – (They All Laughed) – (Mask (1985 film)) – (Illegally Yours) – (Texasville) – (Noises Off) – (The Thing Called Love) – (To Sir with Love II) – (The Price of Heaven) – (Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Women) – (Naked City: A Killer Christmas) – (A Saintly Switch) – (The Cat’s Meow) – (The Mystery of Natalie Wood) – (Hustle (2004 film)) – (Runnin’ Down a Dream) – (She’s Funny That Way)
© thevoid99 2020
Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry, The Last Picture Show is the story of a group of teens who deal with their lonely surroundings as they also meet aging souls as they would contemplate their own future. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich and screenplay by Bogdanovich and McMurtry, the film is a look into a world where the old values of America starts to fall apart as it’s set into a small town in the middle of Texas circa 1951. Starring Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Timothy Bottoms, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Ben Johnson, Randy Quaid, and Clu Gulager. The Last Picture Show is an entrancing yet somber film from Peter Bogdanovich.
Set in this small yet lonely Texas town in the early 1950s in the span of nearly a year, the film explores the lives of three teenagers as well as various adult figures dealing with their environment in a world that is changing around them. Leading the pack is a high school senior in Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) who is unsure of what to do after high school as he spends much of his time hanging out at a pool hall, a diner, and other places in his small town with nothing to do. With his friend Duane (Jeff Bridges) and Duane’s rich girlfriend Jacy (Cybill Shepherd), Sonny spends nearly a year trying to figure things out where he has an affair with his coach’s lonely wife Ruth Popper (Cloris Leachman) while Jacy is eager to lose her virginity to Duane while her mother Lois (Ellen Burstyn) warns her about being with someone like Duane. All of which plays into a world of uncertainty in this small town that is just dying.
The film’s screenplay by Peter Bogdanovich and Larry McMurtry explore this world where even though it is set in nearly a year from October of 1951 to September of 1952. It feels like a film that is set into a very different time period where much of the loose morality of the 1960s and early 1970s come into play as Sonny, Duane, and Jacy would all deal with growing pains as they’re eager to leave the small town they’re in. Especially as there’s a world that is filled with so much change that these three want to be a part of but Sonny is still attached to the small town as he is guided by the town’s local figure Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson) who owns the diner, the pool hall, and movie theater that the people often go to. With Duane in tow, Sonny would often get into mischief as it showcases their lack of direction where their friendship would get complicated to do Duane’s immaturity which eventually played into his break-up with Jacy who wanted more.
The script also plays into the role of peer pressure as Jacy is eager to be with the crowd as she would skinny-dip while wanting to lose her virginity so that she can be with a popular boy in school. It would play into her own development as a young woman as she is guided by her mother Lois about the trappings of love affairs and such as well as being with someone like Duane. Yet, Lois is a woman that is lost in her own marriage and affair as it reveals that she did love someone and has regretted leaving that man while Ruth is a woman in an unhappy marriage as she deals with loneliness where Sonny helps her out and lead to their affair. Ruth, Lois, and Jacy are three of four women who play into Sonny’s life as the other is the diner waitress Genevieve (Eileen Brennan) who is a weary observer, like Lois and Sam, that has seen a lot in the small town and knows what is going on as she would also guide Sonny into finding his way. Even if it means leaving the small town that he has lived for all of his young life.
Bogdanovich’s direction opens and ends with this eerie image of the small Texan town where it feels like a ghost town with hard winds being heard and tumbleweeds passing by. It sets the tone of a film where it has this feel of aimlessness but also something that is quite entrancing where it is set in a crucial moment in time where everything is black-and-white with little contact of the world outside of this small town. Bogdanovich creates some unique shots to play into this emergence of a new world of sexuality that is emerging where Jacy is quite hesitant in some parts of the film but is also eager to fit in with the crowd such as the skinny dipping sequence. There’s also some very chilling scenes where Sonny, Duane, and their friends try to get the mute boy Billy (Sam Bottoms) to lose his virginity to a prostitute as it starts off comically but ends up being very somber where Sonny and his friends feel bad about what happened with Duane not owning up to his mistake.
Much of the direction is shot with some unique wide shots and some medium shots plus a few close-ups to play into the drama that is unfolding as Sonny deals with growing pains and temptation as it concerns Jacy. Especially as things become much grimmer in its third act as parts of this small town is starting to die while the sense of uncertainty starts to loom. Much of it would include some revelations about the town and the people that Sonny has known where he isn’t sure if he has to escape or just be part of it for good. Overall, Bogdanovich creates a very haunting yet intoxicating film about a group of people living in a desolate town in the middle of Texas.
Cinematographer Robert Surtees does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography as it has this very timeless look to the film where it plays into that sense of a ghost town in its location in Texas as well as some unique lighting schemes and such to play into the mood of the drama. Editor Don Cambern does excellent work with the editing as it features bits of stylistic uses of jump-cuts and dissolves to play into the sense of dramatic energy in the film as well as the sense of aimlessness.
Production/costume designer Polly Platt and art director Walter Scott Herndon do amazing work with the set pieces from the look of the town in its desolate setting as well as the pool hall and movie theater while the costumes are terrific to play into the personality of the characters. Sound editor James M. Falkinburg does superb work with the sound from the way wind sounds to some of the moments in the film’s locations along with the film’s music as much of it is played on location as it features pieces by Hank Williams and other artists in country and pop music of the times.
The casting by Ross Brown is fantastic as it features some notable small roles from Sharon Taggart as Sonny’s girlfriend Charlene early in the film, Bill Thurman as Ruth’s husband, Gary Brockette as the popular senior Bobby that Jacy wants to be with, Sam Bottoms as the mute boy Billy that always hung around Sonny and Sam the Lion, Clu Gulager as Lois’ lover Aibilene who would later meet Jacy in a very haunting moment, and Randy Quaid as a rich kid named Lester who would take Jacy to the skinny-dipping party. Eileen Brennan is excellent as the kind-hearted waitress Genevieve who often serves Sonny and the other locals as she would help Sonny around and give him some guidance and food. Ellen Burstyn is superb as Jacy’s mother Lois who tries to warn her daughter about dating someone like Duane as she is embroiled in an empty affair of her own as she comes to term with her own regrets and what she doesn’t want her daughter to do.
Ben Johnson is amazing as the town leader Sam the Lion as this old man that had seen everything as he also displays some sentimentality about how simple things were in the past as he is aware of changing times as he guides Sonny into doing what is right. Cloris Leachman is radiant as the lonely housewife Ruth Popper as this middle-aged woman who has been neglected and depressed as she finds solace in the company of Sonny as there is a moment at the end of the film that is just astonishing as she is just riveting to watch. Cybill Shepherd is brilliant as Jacy Farrow as this young woman who is eager to fit in with the rest of her classmates as she is in love with Duane while becoming frustrated with her lack of prospects as she tries to come to terms with what she wants to do with her life.
Jeff Bridges is superb as Duane as an aloof young man who likes to party and such as he has very little idea into what Jacy wants while being forced to grow up and think about his own future. Finally, there’s Timothy Bottoms in an incredible performance as Sonny Crawford where Bottoms brings a boyish quality to a young man unsure of what to do as he begins an affair with a middle-aged woman while dealing with the tasks he’s given as well as temptation as it’s a truly mesmerizing performance from Bottoms.
The Last Picture Show is a tremendous film from Peter Bogdanovich. Featuring a brilliant ensemble cast as well as an astonishing look and presentation, it’s a film that explores a world that is truly American but cut-off from the rest of the country. Especially in a world that is changing where the youth of this small town is forced to make decisions about what to do with this new world that is emerging. In the end, The Last Picture Show is a phenomenal film from Peter Bogdanovich.
Peter Bogdanovich Films: Targets - (Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women) - (Directed by John Ford) - (What’s Up Doc?) - Paper Moon - (Daisy Miller) - (At Long Last Love) - (Nickelodeon) - (Saint Jack) - (They All Laughed) - (Mask (1985 film)) - (Illegally Yours) - (Texasville) - (Noises Off) - (The Thing Called Love) - (To Sir, with Love II) - (The Price of Heaven) - (Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Women) - (Naked City: A Killer Christmas) - (A Saintly Switch) - (The Cat’s Meow) - (The Mystery of Natalie Wood) - (Hustle (2004 film)) - (Runnin’ Down a Dream) - (She’s Funny That Way) - The Great Buster: A Celebration
© thevoid99 2014
Directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver is the story of a former U.S. marine who has become a taxi driver in New York City. Alienated by his surroundings and unable to connect, he decides to plot an assassination against a political candidate while he befriends a 12-year old hooker as he wonders what to do. The film is an exploration into a man dealing with his isolation and the world he’s surrounded by as he tries to connect while becoming unhinged by what’s happening around him. Starring Robert de Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks, and Peter Boyle. Taxi Driver is a dark yet mesmerizing film from Martin Scorsese.
The film is about this lonely man who works as a taxi driver in New York City as he is troubled by what goes on in the city. Unable to connect with people as he makes various attempts that fail. He starts to go mad as he hopes to kill a famed political candidate in order to get some attention as he is also intrigued by a 12-year old prostitute who he hopes to help. In this journey that Travis Bickle (Robert de Niro) ventures into, it’s the story of this lonely man who feels isolated by the world around him as he’s just trying to make a living yet is troubled by his surroundings. He does descend into madness after a date with a campaign volunteer in Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) doesn’t go well due to his lack of social skills. There, he turns into dark and violent thoughts while wanting to help this young hooker named Iris (Jodie Foster) so she can return home and stay away from this dark world that includes a pimp named Sport (Harvey Keitel).
Paul Schrader’s screenplay explores a man’s isolation and his descent as he finds himself dealing with the chaos that he’s in. Yet, there is a semblance of humanity in Travis Bickle as he tries whatever it takes to connect with people as he often confides in another cab driver named Wizard (Peter Boyle). Still, his attempts are often misguided when he takes Betsy on a date by going to a porn theater. It’s not just that Bickle has poor social skills, it’s just that he is in a world that is in ruins and some of the passengers he meets are very despicable people including Sport whom he treats Iris like a father figure and a lover. Driven by this sense of isolation and the duty to wanting to set things right. He decides to go after this political candidate named Palantine (Leonard Harris) in order to bring things back to balance but things eventually become complicated. With Iris’ troubles, Bickle offers to help her out but she is unsure if she wants to come home as it gives Bickle a reason to do something.
Schrader’s script is very layered in terms of its presentation as it features a lot of voice-over narration to reflect on Bickle’s isolation and paranoia as he would state things like “I’m God’s lonely man”. There’s elements of film noir in the narration and in the narrative of the script but there’s also a bit of plot schematics of the western that is involved. A lot of which had to do with Bickle playing cowboy in order to save Iris from this dark and seedy world. Yet, in the wake of what Bickle might do. There comes a lot of questions about the aftermath whether Bickle has become better for his actions or has it made him worse.
Martin Scorsese’s direction is very entrancing for the way he explores a man’s isolation set in mid-1970s New York City where it’s a place that is truly troubled by its decay. Notably as he uses a lot of unique framing devices and stylish presentation to convey this sense of isolation and intimacy that is present in the mind of Travis Bickle. With the use of slow-motion camera shots that would either convey a desire that Bickle wants or to establish his descent. There is something in the film’s direction where Scorsese that is unsettling yet very hypnotic in the way he slowly goes for a close-up and to play out Bickle’s madness. Even in one of the film’s most famous moments in which Bickle talks to himself in a mirror and say “you’re talking to me” as it shows Bickle ready to take on the world.
While Scorsese also presents some moments of intimacy in the way Bickle interacts with various characters in some medium shots or in close-ups. Some of it is shown with simplicity but there are moments where it adds a mood to the film as it maintains Bickle’s slow descent. By the third act where Bickle gets ready to kill Palantine, there is that element of suspense of whether Bickle will do something but there is also that sense of trouble where he might just back off. Then there’s the film’s violence where it is very stylized not just in the way Scorsese presents the action but also its impact as it is very disturbing in the way blood looked and such. Overall, Scorsese crafts a very gripping yet visceral film about madness and isolation.
Cinematographer Michael Chapman does amazing work with the film‘s very grimy cinematography from the eerie nighttime look of the city to some of the more haunting interior colors in some scenes set at night. Editors Marcia Lucas, Tom Rolf, and Melvin Shapiro do great work with the editing as it plays an air of style with its jump-cuts and various rhythms to play out the sense of action that occurs throughout the film. Art director Charles Rosen and set decorator Herbert F. Milligan do terrific work with the look of Bickle’s apartment to establish his personality as well as the more colorful look of Iris’ room.
Costume designer Ruth Morley does excellent work with the costumes from the clothes that Iris wears when she works to the stylish clothes of Betsy. Sound mixer Les Lazarowitz does nice work with the sound to capture the chaos of many of the film‘s exterior setting as well as some of the tense moments inside the cab. The film’s music by Bernard Herrmann is truly ravishing for the sense of melancholia that is played in its jazz-based score filled saxophone and jazz scales to capture that sense of decay where it’s seductive but also disturbing as it’s one of Herrmann’s best scores.
The casting by Juliet Taylor is brilliant as it features some wonderful small performances from director Martin Scorsese as a passenger wanting to kill his wife, Leonard Harris as the political candidate Palantine, Richard Higgs as a Secret Service agent, Steve Prince as a gun salesman, and Albert Brooks as a fellow co-worker of Betsy who provides some funny moments in the film. Peter Boyle is great as the veteran cabbie Wizard who provides a lot of insight and wisecracks about what it takes to be a great cab driver. Harvey Keitel is amazing as the pimp Sport as he brings a lot of charisma to a role that is very complex as he’s very fatherly to Iris while he has some very cool exchanges with de Niro. Cybill Shepherd is excellent as Betsy as this woman who is intrigued by Bickle but is also disturbed by his lack of social skills.
Jodie Foster is brilliant as the young prostitute Iris who is curious about why Bickle wants to save her as she is a young girl who is just very confused about what she’s doing as it’s very chilling yet sprawling performance for the actress who was only in her teens at the time. Finally, there’s Robert de Niro in an outstanding performance as Travis Bickle. In this role of a troubled cab driver, de Niro displays the sense of loneliness in his voiceover narration as well as an awkwardness to a man who is really struggling to connect as de Niro also provides a craziness to his performance as it’s definitely one of his best.
Taxi Driver is a magnificent film from Martin Scorsese that features a chilling yet fantastic performance from Robert de Niro. Along with strong supporting performances from Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, and Peter Boyle. It’s definitely one of Scorsese’s great films as well as one of the most eerie studies in isolation and madness thanks in part to Paul Schrader’s harrowing script. In the end, Taxi Driver is a tremendous film from Martin Scorsese.
Martin Scorsese Films: (Who’s That Knocking on My Door?) - (Street Scenes) - Boxcar Bertha - (Mean Streets) - Italianamerican - Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore - New York, New York - American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - (The Last Waltz) - Raging Bull - The King of Comedy - After Hours - The Color of Money - The Last Temptation of Christ - New York Stories-Life Lessons - Goodfellas - Cape Fear (1991 film) - The Age of Innocence - (A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies) - (Casino) - (Kundun) - (My Voyage to Italy) - Bringing Out the Dead - (The Blues-Feel Like Going Home) - Gangs of New York - (The Aviator (2004 film)) - No Direction Home - The Departed - Shine a Light - Shutter Island - (A Letter to Elia) - (Public Speaking) - George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Hugo - The Wolf of Wall Street - (The Fifty Year Argument) - Silence (2016 film) - (The Irishman) - Killers of the Flower Moon - (An Afternoon with SCTV)
© thevoid99 2013
