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Ever since the sixties, Buster Keaton has been championed by intellectuals, who like to place him with such 20th century masters as Kafka and Beckett. In claiming Keaton for high art, critics often exaggerate the strains of cynicism, pessimism, and irony in his work, while overlooking the sincere drama and laugh-out-loud comedy in the films, as well as the soulfulness and unflagging determination of Buster's characters. But if surrealism and black humor are what you want, The Love Nest is thoroughly dominated by both. It's not one of Keaton's most successful films, nor one of his funniest, yet I find it oddly compelling. If you want to see Buster at his nautical best, watch The Boat or The Navigator; but this is an interesting twist on the seafaring theme.

The last two-reel comedy Keaton made before embarking on full-length features, The Love Nest has several distinctions. It's the only one of his films for which Buster took sole writing and directing credit. And it's the only one that has no leading lady: a photo of Virginia Fox provides the only feminine presence. Having lost her, Buster sets out on a solitary ocean voyage in a tiny homemade boat (ironically called Cupid.) Days later, we see him adrift, weak, thirsty, and starving—and wearing a painted-on beard. He's rescued by a whaling ship (even more ironically called the Love Nest), which turns out to be captained by a sadistic tyrant (Big Joe Roberts), who punishes minor infractions by heaving sailors overboard and tossing memorial wreathes after them. The whaling ship is beautifully realized, with a grim, Melvillean raffishness; this section is remarkably similar to the later film The Sea Wolf in both look and theme. There are some wonderful moments. Buster gazes longingly at the view through a porthole, and then the captain comes up and takes the porthole away. Buster walks into the water with a gun over his shoulder and emerges with a fish he has shot. When he wants to escape in a lifeboat that's too heavy for him to launch alone, he goes below and smashes a hole in the whaling ship's hull, then sits in the lifeboat waiting for the larger boat to sink, calmly playing solitaire.

The beginning and end of the film are particularly weak, as though Buster wasn't sure how to justify the whaling ship sequence. (The very end appears to be missing, however, so who knows what the closing gag might have been.) I think at this point, Buster was eager to move on to feature films and weary of coming up with ideas for short films every other month. Many of his late two-reelers have odd structures, far-out premises, and a slightly tired, sour feeling. But The Love Nest is a strangely beautiful, dreamlike little film, and I like it because it's impossible to imagine anyone except Buster Keaton making it.

Perhaps it is the clichéd framework of the film that puts me off; perhaps Keaton is not quite as ingenious in this film as in others. Whatever, `The Love Nest' lacks the effervescence of many of Keaton's shorts. He is quite innovative in some scenes, the best his being caught with a rifle in his hands; without losing pace, he proceeds to go out and shoot a fish. This is part of his true mastery, salvaging a situation with hilarious results. Joe Roberts, who appears in several Keaton films, is good as the sinister whaling captain.

It is the detail making difference by the other short films of Buster Keaton. A sad love story. A trip for cure the soul. A meet and a tyranic captain. A boat and military exercises. And the inspired end. The dream shadow is the perfect skin for what are more than adventures but interesting reflection about choices and heroism. And about adventures as root of perspective about life.

Now here's a Keaton short I can confidently recommend.

In contrast to "The Boat", Buster is not at the mercy of physics here. This time he causes the chaos, and he's aware of it. He spends the duration wriggling his way out of trouble, instead of more deeply into it.

The absurd tone of the whole thing is set by the goofs in what is a sort of anti-"Dear John" letter ("PS If you do not receive this letter, write me").

But what makes this special is the revelation that this is one big slapstick dream. And...all of that is wrapped within another envelope of absurdity, exposed to us in brilliant visual shorthand -- add them up and you have something quite uniquely cinematic.

I watched this with my 2 kids aged 10 and 12 in attempt to give them some further experience of silent movies. We watched all the Our Gang comedies, including the silents, 5 years ago - we've seen several Chaplin films (Modern Times, City Lights). These few films we are watching of Keaton's will definitely start a new round of silent film appreciation. I think this is the funniest of the bunch we have right now, but my kids love the Navigator even more. They have even introduced a few of their friends to the joys of this classic era. It is painful to know of genius not recognized in its time, and I think that is why so many people compare Keaton and Chaplin so often. Chaplin got the fame and fortune, Buster got a bad deal and never lost his spirit. Keaton was an extraordinary human being as well as one of the film greats - remembered for his greatness of character and the depth of his on-film persona. I give this one a 10!