Love Nest

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.

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!

Remarkable, typically inventive Keaton short, laced with a horrifying comic disregard of death and an emasculating admission of inadequacy. Buster is a heartbroken swain who decides to cure his loss by forswearing women and manfully taking to the sea. Here he meets a mad brute of a captain who throws overboard any of his crew that displeases him. Buster's entirely spurious skill endears him to the captain.

Besides being a wonderful parody of macho Ahab-like naval nonsense, this is another Keaton fantasy as metaphysical nightmare. Buster is cast adrift on a metaphorical sea, boarding the ship of death, with the Grim Reaper as his master. Prowess, ingenuity and sheer accidental good fortune keep him afloat until a climactic, heavily resonant, chase through a labyrinthine ship.

I don't mean to weigh the film down with pseudo-meaningfulness, but the humour of Keaton's films has an eerie, lingering, resonant effect on the soul, similar to the Alice books. Supposedly comic froth, visual metaphors from his films haunt the mind for years after as unerringly accurate encapsulations of the human condition. No wonder Beckett adored him, although I know whose comfort I'd rather have.

And the film is very, very funny, ridiculous, clever, awe-inspiring. The gorgeous clarity of the film's imagery, and the eerie composition of space combine to create a convincing landscape of the mind. Keaton's physical grace may seem less showy than Chaplin's, but its very suppleness in modesty astonishes, as does his graceful negotiation of obstacles and forbidding spaces. Indeed, it is Buster's very freedom of movement that is finally redemptive - although he is a mere automaton going through his creator's paces, his inevitable imperturbility and melancholy dignity achieves an aesthetic, transcendence of beauty and grace. The typical Keaton revelation that the movie is a dream is not bathetic - our dreams of adventure are never a joke; but more importantly, the anxieties and desires of these dreams are both recognisable and deeply , painfully disturbing.

The great Buster Keaton's short films may have been inconsistent in quality, though certainly through no fault of his. There are some wonderful ones, such as 'The Scarecrow' and 'The Goat'. A few though disappointed, such as 'The Frozen North' and 'The Balloonatic', yet were still watchable (it takes a lot for me to consider any of Keaton's work unwatchable). What they have in common as the main reason to see them is Keaton himself, wholly deserving of his comedy genius reputation.

Keaton did though do a lot better than 'The Love Nest', not just short films but also his overall filmography. It is definitely worth seeing, has great things and Keaton himself doesn't disappoint, but for me the material, amusing but not his most inspired, and storytelling were flawed. If to rank his short films from best to worst, for me 'The Love Nest' is towards the bottom. Just to reiterate, it is far from terrible, actually did like it, just didn't love it.

A lot of good things can be seen here in 'The Love Nest'. Other Keaton short films may be more polished visually, with more refined editing, but the more surrealistic imagery is quite eerie and there is a lot of atmosphere in the stark photography. There is plenty of charm here, without being sappy, and enough amuses. Joe Roberts is a formidable nemesis.

What makes 'The Love Nest' worth seeing are two things. One is Keaton, who has great comic timing as ever, is daringly athletic and nobody before, during or since did deadpan more expressvely than him. When it comes to standout scenes, the highlight is the pretty ingenious, very funny and thrillingly staged climax.

So it was something of a shame that other aspects of 'The Love Nest' weren't as inspired. The story here is pretty weak, it takes a while to gain momentum, with the first third feeling over-stretched, and much of it feels rather thin and incomplete. It did feel like more was filmed but left out for time constraints, which would account for why structurally it felt slightly choppy at times.

Despite enough of 'The Love Nest' being amusing, not much is hilarious or particularly inventive. While the climax is brilliant, the very end is less so and felt almost like an abrupt easy way out. May be a little biased as it is a type of ending that has always come off as too much of a cheat and indicative of not knowing how to end it.

Overall, above average and worthwhile but generally not exceptional. 6/10

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.