General

Cast: Buster Keaton, Charles Smith, Marion Mack, Richard Allen, Mike Donlin, Joe Keaton, Frederick Vroom

Fastest comedy of all time: General Buster Keaton in 4K restored version again in cinemas for the 100th anniversary of its release!

A locomotive stands at the station... One of the greatest silent films — and one of the best comedies in the history of cinema — turns 100 this year. On this occasion, we want to pay tribute to the genius of Buster Keaton: the giant of the film burlesque, the king of brilliant gags and the master of slapstick. “General” is Keaton's most famous film, which fully demonstrates the breadth of his talent and amazing inventiveness. We present the film in a crystal restored 4K version, thanks to which every detail, every super-fast joke and every feat takes your breath away. The author of the sensational orchestral path to the General is the acclaimed composer of music for silent films Carl Davis.

We meet the main character, machinist Johnny Gray (in this role, of course, Buster himself), at the threshold of the Civil War in the South. He fails to enlist in the army, and his fiancée Annabelle (Marion Mack) refuses to speak to him until he is in uniform. Soon Johnny's locomotive, the “General”, is hijacked by enemy Union troops. Our hero will be able to test his will to fight by going in pursuit of his beloved machine and, by the way, saving Annabelle from oppression.

“The General” is war cinema, action cinema, romance and stunningly precise comedy all rolled into one. Keaton's film plunges us into a race through America, filmed entirely outdoors, with hundreds of extras and stunt numbers that no one dared to repeat afterwards. In the middle of all the turmoil is a brave driver who is only ostensibly a “stone-faced man,” as Keaton used to be called. After all, Buster's facial expressions, gestures, body movements and eyes express more than a thousand words.