Buster Keaton

Keaton was an American actor born in Kansas, US and passed in LA, US age 70.

As well as acting he was also well known for his directory, stunts, producing and writings. He began performing in 1917 featuring for the film The Butcher Boy. In 1924 he performed in the short film The Navigator the film shows how far Keaton would go to capture such a perfect gag sequence, the gags in the scenes that were performed underwater created the surreality in the scene though if the background of the underwater scene were to look more realistic then Keaton's actions would look more surreal.

One week

Buster Keaton stared in One Week. Many of the scenes are so unrealistic others however are really artfully constructed. A young couple has just got married and arrive at their new property, a truck arrives and drops a wooden box at their feet, inside the box is a wooden build it yourself kit for their new house. The couples efforts to build the house are both adorable and hilarious, involving slapstick manor and risky stunts. The next day the husband is stood at the front of the house, which looks as though it had been involved in a train wreck. The roof is too small and the house opens and closes at different parts on the walls.

 In the next scene a man is carrying a piano over his shoulder it was seen by the public as a very surrealist image. The piano then becomes the centre of attention in which the couple both use ropes to pull the piano inside the house but fails at the end as it falls through the floor.

Its easy to see why films such as One Week appealed to surrealists such as Bunuel who described Keaton and Chaplin as 'The finest poets that cinemas could have produced'