Io e la vacca

Buster Keaton is often characterized as an unemotional filmmaker whose face lakes expression and whose films lack heart. I call bull on this. In recent years, Keaton's nickname "The Great Stone Face" has been challenged by critics and fans who appreciate his subtle and far from heartless performances. And the idea that his films have no emotional depth has been questioned as well. If any film could answer that question, then Go West (1925) would be it.

GW is the story of a lonely young man who gets a job as a farm hand and befriends a cow after she saves him from a rampaging bull. Their relationship is sweet but never cloying, and Keaton makes sure to mock plot elements meant to evoke cheap pathos (ex. Keaton goes to pet a dog and he is literally such an outcast that even the mutt walks away from him).

It's not a masterpiece, but it is a very sweet movie and one that is worth the hour plus running time.

A young man named Friendless decides to head east when his luck runs out. After nearly getting trampled by an average New York pedestrian crowd, Friendless takes Horace Greeley's advice and heads west via rail. Friendless accidently is sent off the train, he ends up at an Arizona ranch, where the owner gives him a job as a hand. Soon there he meets his first friend, a cow named Brown Eyes. When Brown Eyes is to be taken with the rest of the herd for the slaughterhouse, Friendless goes with Brown Eyes to prevent her turning into a steak dinner, until a rival ranch holds up the train, and Friendless ends up driving the entire herd through the busy 1920's streets of Los Angeles to market. This Keaton film differs from the other's he made in the 1920's, where it is more of a drama, and sacrificing the Keaton routine of the young man who unwillingly is called to do the extraordinary things, in a sense a Chaplin film. There are a few good sight gags though (Buster waiting for a cow to give milk, his failures to get to the dinner table on time), but the scenes with Brown Eyes are the movie. Rating- 7.

After trading all his belongings for a large sandwich, Keaton's nameless character hops on a train with the intent of leaving his small town for the big city. He quickly realizes that city life is no better for him as he's literally trampled underfoot by a crowd of people and jumps on the train again, this time with the intention of seeking his fortune as so many did in the west. He falls out near a large cattle ranch and manages to secure work there.

Of course he's quite unsuited for the ranch lifestyle as well. He befriends a cow that's nearly as unwanted as he is and spends most of his time on the ranch protecting his bovine protégé. All is not well at the ranch, however, as the proprietor must sell his herd right away or risk losing his business. Keaton's character accompanies the cows on their train ride and ends up attempting to drive the whole lot of them to the slaughterhouse all by himself. This is fraught with complication and the cattle run riot through the streets (and buildings!) of Los Angeles in an exciting set piece that includes Keaton dressing up in a red devil costume complete with horns and a tail.

The film is interesting in that it focuses on an area of Western life that gets less attention: the day to day lifestyle of ranchers and their hands. The first half of the film is full of humorous scenes that set up the character and the situation and the later half of the film has the most laughs as Keaton navigates his way through a series of wild cow in the city scenarios. The story is a bit on the slight side but the comedy works as well as always. This film is proof that even a minor work from a legend like Keaton is still near great.

Go West is a movie that you seldom hear about and even Keaton did not consider it among his best. However, every time I see it, I cannot help but think that it is one of his funniest and most touching films. In his independent work, Keaton had an amazing ability to portray very unfortunate characters and yet not seem to be pandering to the audience for its pity. In this film, Keaton plays a character referred to as Friendless. The opening scenes of the film show him bouncing around from one unfortunate (and hilarious) situation to another. Yet rather than feel pity for him, the audience can root for this character and good-naturedly laugh at how Friendless reacts to and deals with his misfortunes. It's difficult not to admire the way he overcomes all challenges. When he finds a friend in a cow named Brown Eyes, his loyalty to her and the rancher that employed him precipitates an amazing sequence of events, culminating in an unbelievable cattle stampede through the streets of LA. Although, the scene may drag on a bit, I'll never forget the image of Buster Keaton running down a city street in a red devil's outfit being pursued by a giant herd of cattle. It is one of the most hilariously absurd scenes ever committed to film. There are great gags from beginning to end and, as usual for Keaton, the final sequence is very satisfying. In addition, the Kino release has an outstanding soundtrack which enhances the film considerably. I would highly recommend Go West to anyone as an introduction to Keaton, silent films, or comedies in general.

"Go West" is an enjoyable change-of-pace from Keaton. It has a creative story that enables Buster to demonstrate some different acting skills, while still having plenty of his trademark slapstick, chases, and stunts, especially in the last half of the film. It's not one of his best-remembered films today, largely because it is rather old-fashioned and sometimes slow, but it has a great many merits for those who enjoy silent comedies.

Buster's character is down on his luck, and decides to head west. He winds up on a ranch, working as a cowhand. As he tries rather ineffectively to learn the trade, he becomes attached to a particular cow, 'Brown Eyes'. While trying to protect Brown Eyes from harm, he is caught in the middle of the desperate attempts of the rancher and the rancher's daughter to save their business. Keaton is very good in evoking sympathy for his character while still being amusing, and the story is touching at times while remaining pleasantly silly at others. There are times when it does move pretty slowly, but it is always pleasant to watch.

The film would be well worth seeing for the last portion alone. Everything comes together in a madcap stampede sequence that is extremely funny and that contains a lot of inventive gags. It's classic Keaton, and a great way to top off a rather different story.

If you are a fan of Buster or of silent comedy in general, make sure to give this one a try. It's not the kind of film that could be expected to attract a wide audience today, but it's a pleasant and enjoyable film, and you might like it as much as those of us on this page have enjoyed it.