preview

Who Is Buster Keaton's The General?

Decent Essays

Buster Keaton’s The General is a perfect example of the classical paradigm: “narrative structure that..dominated film...since the 1910s,” (359) following specific conventions: “scenes intensify...conflict in..rising...action...to...maximum tension in the climax.” (360-361) This is evident in the scene where Keaton fires cannonballs at a train with Union soldiers holding his love Annabel Lee captive. After Keaton’s initial failure to hit the other train--where the cannonball hits the train he is driving instead-- whenever the Union train pulls further away or blocks the tracks in front of Keaton’s train, tension between the characters rises, reaching its climax as a cannonball hits the Union train. Had Keaton hit the train on his first try, the scene would be less engaging, since classical films thrive on tension. The basic plot of the classical paradigm is obstacles are cast in the protagonist’s path, making it difficult for the protagonist to complete their quest. Suddenly, there are challenges preventing the protagonist from achieving his goal, so the audience becomes interested in whether the protagonist is successful, because …show more content…

Typically the protagonist will instigate action, and the antagonist resists it.(360) When Keaton fires the cannon, he initiates conflict between himself and the Union soldiers, the antagonists. The Union train outrunning Keaton’s cannonballs and placing traps on the train-tracks is an example of the antagonist resisting the protagonist. The traps on the train tracks are obstacles the protagonist, Keaton, must overcome to complete his quest. Since Keaton does not resolve the conflict immediately, instead taking several cannon shots and slowing to avoid the other train’s traps, the audience is drawn into their conflict, hoping Keaton will slow down the Union train to save his love, despite the traps placed in his

Get Access