Buster Keaton的電影是一口滿溢著想象與靈感之力的泉眼，藝術家、作家如果才思遭遇阻塞，而產(chǎn)不出東西時，不妨從工作臺起身去舀一瓢來享用。（很慚愧，一直以來我對他的了解只是作為Colin Firth的偶像……）

《The Navigator》中，一個憂郁的小個子公子哥決定今天就要結婚，未等來答復就做了一切度蜜月的準備，其中就包括買好了在海上航行的船票。他唐突地出現(xiàn)，用悲傷的語調向自己的心上人求婚 "Will you marry me?"，但富家小姐礙于矜持，在管家把帽子掛好手杖放下之前便拒絕了他。

"Going on a honeymoon without a bride is like singing the words of 'Kiss me again' to the music of 'Alice, where art thou?' "

在那之后，這兩個嚴重缺乏自理能力的年輕貴族陰差陽錯上了同一艘幽靈船，所有的船員都遭遇了綁架，為了生存下去他們不得不自力更生。從用煮沸的海水沏咖啡豆，用大砍刀開罐頭，尋聲找人上演腳前腳后的追逐大戰(zhàn)，窗外老男人頭像蕩來蕩去，沒有一個煮雞蛋可以壽終正寢而不被摔得頭破蛋花流，再到兩周后他們用大小滑輪組等各式工具將廚房變成半自動化機械工廠……（基頓的另一個夢想便是成為土木工程師，他對機械的熱愛也體現(xiàn)在了他的電影里）這當中他們也自然而然地得到了成長。

但長大的過程美好中又充滿苦澀，當他們終于看到陸地，卻又用望遠鏡瞥見了興致勃勃迎接他們的食人族，于是基頓穿潛水服修船、放danger標志牌、用龍蝦當鉗子、同金槍魚擊劍、用爆竹當大炮卻沒料到點著的小炮被纏在腳上跟著主人走、敵人架起椰子樹攻船，基頓就在樹的另一端摘椰子反抗，其間還有他穿著老式潛水服戴著厚重頭盔登陸酷似水神降臨嚇跑食人族抱得美人歸，美人執(zhí)槳劃充滿空氣因此可以仰面漂浮的英雄……

最終，當二人棄船而逃望著像螞蟻般涌現(xiàn)的土著，絕望著沒入水下，卻因為腳踩潛艇而又浮出水面……兩個患難與共憂傷又快樂的年輕人跳進艙內(nèi)，他們得救了，而食人族站在潛艇的上方以為已將獵物俘獲而開心地跳起了奔放的舞蹈，Ignorance is a bliss，無知是福。

jcCTVA 310

Tim Halloran

27 September 2017

A Short Review of “Sherlock Jr.” and “The Navigator”

On September 21st, 2017 at 7 PM, I watched two remarkable films, namely “Sherlock Jr.,” and “The Navigator.” They were mainly produced, acted, and directed by the same person, Buster Keaton in 1924. These two films are typical examples of Buster Keaton’s featured style, a romantic, comedic silent film with a happy ending. The setting of mise en scene and the storytelling skills that Buster Keaton used are forward and experimental.

“Sherlock Jr.” and “The Navigator” are romantic silent films and their characters share similar goals, chasing the love of their life. In detail, Buster Keaton in "Sherlock Jr." acts as a poor theatre worker who has to compete with a rival in love (a thief) and try to engage with a woman. At the end of the film, the theatre worker gets back together with the woman even though he was framed by his rival and asked to leave the woman alone. In "The Navigator," Keaton acts as Rollo Treadway, a man who goes on a honeymoon alone after failing to marry his dream wife. However, Rollo inadvertently meets a woman on a ship and they embark on a risky journey, but Rollo gets a kiss from the woman at the end. "Sherlock Jr.” and "The Navigator" both end in happiness: the protagonist gets together with the love of his life.

Although these two features have a different story setting and character backgrounds, their main roles still play similar characters. For instance, Rollo Treadway in "The Navigator" is an honorable man who was born in a first-class family, whereas the theatre worker in "Sherlock Jr." is poor and debased. They live in a different world but share similar personalities. They never laugh, but they are sincere and both have a warm heart. Nonetheless, they are not good at putting their ideas across and pleasing others; these protagonists in different classes still share similar characteristics: they are both unsmiling and inarticulate, but sincere.

The most remarkable scene that Keaton directed is the dream scene in "Sherlock. Jr." The scene takes place at a classical theatre, which is on a movie screen stage. These dream sequences wherein the theatre worker walks in or out of the movie screen were very dramatic; the continuity of editing was also an excellent arrangement and the actions were perfectly matched.

Overall, “Sherlock Jr. " and "The Navigator" are typical examples of Buster Keaton’s featured style, brought forward in both films. Before I took part in the retrospective of “Sherlock Jr. ", I had seen some of Keaton’s feature films, namely "The Saphead," "Three Ages," "Our Hospitality" and several of his short films. However, the night of September 21st, 2017 became my best silent film experience. I love the feature of "Sherlock Jr." Furthermore, the retrospective of Buster Keaton's features also made me one of Buster Keaton’s enthusiasts.

開頭交代背景。之后是陰錯陽差的海上“蜜月旅行”。遇到救兵卻又因誤會錯過。

以前的人都亂丟煙頭，并且不熄滅的嗎？

互相追逐想找對方那段，很《恐怖游輪》。

劃船追趕的BMG很熟悉啊。

高空跳水這個是來真的，基頓真的很拼命。

濕身誘惑。

畫像那個笑死。事實證明，人嚇人真的是可以嚇死人。

一排門開啟、關閉，很恐怖片。

玩牌這個很無聊，雖然是想苦中作樂。

接下來又到基頓展示各種半自動餐飲日常發(fā)明的時間。

危機再次降臨。

遭遇原始部落。

“人舟”這個太無厘頭了。

椰樹梯子這個好有創(chuàng)意。想起印度神片《巴霍巴利王》里有“樹弓”這一神武器，好像也是椰樹。

潛水艇真是神仙救兵。

這個片子還說明了一個真理：向女孩子求婚得選擇一個合適的時間。

夜，茫茫大海，孤舟，一男一女，未知的危險（各種天災人禍）。這個片子可以說開了恐怖動作片的先河。