Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life (2022)

 

Jame Curtis' biography of Buster Keaton is one of the finest movie star biographies, I have ever read. At over 700 pages, this is a massive read. Yet it never once feels boring or get repetitive. Once more I hated every time I had to put this book down. 

This book hooked me from the very beginning. Buster's childhood is an endlessly fascinating subject. He grew up on the stage as part of his parents rough and tumble comedy act becoming the star of the act himself when he was still a little kid. Luckily this book covers Buster's childhood in the most informative and engaging way I have ever read. The stories contained in this portion feel larger than life but are still completely real. Yet this book still continues extremely strong as Buster reaches adulthood. Due to the length of the book, Curtis is able to cover each of Buster's silent films in great detail and with excellent critical commentary, while also giving us a great portrait of his personal life. Even massive Keaton-philes will learn a great deal here and come away with an even greater appreciation of the man and his films. The book continues to give in depth looks at the majority of his talkie films in a very honest way. The book offers many criticisms of his talkie work. As many of you know by the talkie era, Buster no longer had great creative control over the majority of his work, and his talkie work rarely lived up to his silent masterpieces. Yet at the same time the book does not fully dismiss these films, the way other writings on Buster Keaton do. Just because they don't reach the height of his silent work, doesn't mean they can't be fun. And this book is just as quick to praise his talkie work as it is to criticize it, making this the fairest look at these films I have ever read. At the same time this book paints a fascinating picture of Buster as a person. He could be a more complex person than he himself (being a completely unpretentious guy) would have given himself credit for. Curtis captures both his virtues in his flaws making a truly human look at this cinematic giant, who can sometimes seem beyond human to movie lovers. Even when looking at his flaws though, the book remains sympathetic and makes us care for Buster for reasons beyond that he made great films. 

This is a must read for any movie lover.