NFT Buster Keaton Festival in London

The National Film Theatre in London is having a massive Keaton
retrospective.

It's already underway, but for those of you in London (or who can book
a flight in a hurry), here's what's still to come (along with the
website's slightly hyperbolic lead-in):

Buster Keaton
2 February to 29 March 2006

Buster Keaton, the greatest artist in cinema history? This may seem an
extravagant claim for a man often described as a 'silent clown'. But
look more closely. As an actor, Keaton was always far more expressive
than was implied by his nickname ('the Great Stoneface').

Keaton's dark and unsentimental worldview is one of the things that
makes his work feel so modern; another was his expertise as a
film-maker. He paid meticulous attention to portraying period and
place; the acting tends towards understatement and subtle nuance rather
than over-the-top slapstick; his camera movements, compositions and
lighting not only enhance the comedy but are beautiful in themselves;
and the editing serves both to create suspense and, in works like
Sherlock Jr and The Cameraman, to interrogate 'filmic reality' itself.

Films by date

Wed 15 Feb
NFT1 6.20PM The General
NFT3 8.30PM The General
NFT2 8.40PM Seven Chances

Thu 16 Feb
NFT1 8.45PM The General

Sun 19 Feb
NFT1 4.15PM Go West
NFT2 6.20PM Buster Keaton - A Hard Act to Follow

Mon 20 Feb
NFT1 6.00PM Sherlock Jr
NFT2 8.40PM Our Hospitality

Tue 21 Feb
NFT1 6.30PM Three Ages

Thu 23 Feb
NFT1 6.30PM Seven Chances
NFT2 8.40PM Battling Butler

Fri 24 Feb
NFT1 6.30PM Our Hospitality
NFT1 8.45PM The Navigator

Sat 25 Feb
NFT1 4.15PM Battling Butler

Mon 27 Feb
NFT1 8.45PM Go West

Wed 1 Mar
NFT1 6.00PM College

Fri 3 Mar
NFT2 6.10PM Steamboat Bill, Jr

Sat 4 Mar
NFT1 3.15PM College
NFT1 6.20PM The Cameraman

Sun 5 Mar
NFT1 3.15PM Steamboat Bill, Jr

Wed 8 Mar
NFT1 6.00PM Spite Marriage

Thu 9 Mar
NFT2 6.15PM Free and Easy

Fri 10 Mar
NFT1 6.20PM The Cameraman

Sat 11 Mar
NFT2 6.30PM Doughboys
NFT1 9.10PM Spite Marriage

Mon 13 Mar
NFT3 6.10PM Parlor, Bedroom, and Bath

Tue 14 Mar
NFT2 8.40PM Doughboys

Wed 15 Mar
NFT3 8.30PM Parlor, Bedroom, and Bath

Fri 17 Mar
NFT2 6.15PM The Passionate Plumber
NFT2 8.40PM Free and Easy

Sat 18 Mar
NFT2 4.00PM Speak Easily

Sun 19 Mar
NFT2 3.50PM Sidewalks of New York

Tue 21 Mar
NFT2 6.15PM What! No Beer?
NFT2 8.40PM Sidewalks of New York

Wed 22 Mar
NFT2 8.40PM The Passionate Plumber

Fri 24 Mar
NFT2 6.20PM Buster Keaton Sound Shorts: Programme One
NFT2 8.40PM Speak Easily

Sat 25 Mar
NFT2 3.20PM Buster Keaton Sound Shorts: Programme Two
NFT2 8.40PM Buster Keaton Sound Shorts: Programme One

Sun 26 Mar
NFT3 6.10PM A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Mon 27 Mar
NFT2 8.30PM What! No Beer?

Wed 29 Mar
NFT2 6.00PM Buster Keaton Sound Shorts: Programme Two
NFT3 8.30PM A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Tom Moran