Buster Still Speechless: A “Silent” Comic at the Cinémathèque française

Authors

  • Noah Teichner Université Paris 8, ESTCA Laboratoire Esthétique, Sciences et Technologies du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93210 Saint Denis, France

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14591/aniki.v3n1.208

Keywords:

Buster Keaton, Cinémathèque française, slapstick comedy, comedy, film history, historiography, Hollywood

Abstract

This article seeks to identify the underlying historiographical discourses advanced by the Cinémathèque Française’s recent Buster Keaton retrospective and to question the actor-director’s status as a “silent” comic in light of his wide ranging sound era output.

 

Author Biography

Noah Teichner, Université Paris 8, ESTCA Laboratoire Esthétique, Sciences et Technologies du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel, 2 rue de la Liberté, 93210 Saint Denis, France

Noah Teichner is a PhD candidate at the Université Paris 8. From the phonograph to early television, his research takes an intermedial approach to American humor and variety entertainment in the first half to the 20th century. The interplay between the voice, language, and sound technology in slapstick comedy constitues a privileged field of such inquires. He also works as an artist and experimental filmmaker and is currently preparing a 16mm based performance and film project entitled Navigators.

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Published

2016-01-29

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2016): What is Portuguese cinema?

Section

Exhibitions and film festivals