Member review

'One Week' is a short silent film from 1920, written and directed by the one and only Buster Keaton. It is intended as a comedy about a newly married couple, who move into their own house. The catch is...they have to build it themselves! Just to make things worse, Buster Keaton's rival, Handy Hank (identified as 'the fellow she turned down'), tries to interfere with the process causing mayhem! The comedy in this film features stunts and slapstick, comparable to the films of Jim Carrey in recent times - such as Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura and The Mask. Buster Keaton's motto was 'never fake a gag', meaning to never fake a stunt. Keaton performs all of his stunts himself in this movie, much like Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan, which is no mean feat! Keaton jumps out of windows, gets crushed by a piano and is seen having physical fights, although no major injuries were caused during filming. 'One Week' is a silent film but still provides the intended humor through the use of exaggerated physical performance. The audience is able to understand the plot from start to finish, with only title cards to keep the action flowing, describing, on occasion, what the actors can not. The films musical score changes style depending on the mood of the scenes, which is an aural cue to the audience of how they should be feeling. This also creates atmosphere in the absence of speech. Comedy films are not my preferred genre, however, I enjoyed discovering how comedy was used in the early 1900s and what the audience found appealing in comparison to over a century later. Buster Keaton wasn't the only slapstick film maker of the time, Charlie Chaplin was also an extremely popular director of the time, creating films like The Kid and The Gold Rush. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys physical comedy, a good laugh and is suitable for all ages.