There has never been another artist quite like Buster Keaton – there have been many terrific actors who have mastered the art of physical comedy, and even more tremendous directors that have managed to create new and exciting ways of telling these stories on screen, but rarely have we found people who can not only achieve both with equal aplomb, but do so in a way that they become unquestionable icons of the medium, transcending cultural and temporal boundaries with nothing less than the most precise, earnest attention to detail, and earning legions of devotees over the decades, with new generations discovering these magnificent and brilliantly compelling works that capture the spirit of the era in a way that that rarely been done before, and which points towards Keaton’s ingenuity in terms of both form and content. One of his greatest achievements, and one that many have argued is possibly his very best in terms of both its narrative and how Keaton explores it, is Our Hospitality, in which we voyage back to the pre-Civil War Era and explore the trials and tribulations of an endearing milquetoast as he finds himself in the centre of a pair of feuding families when returning home to collect his inheritance, which has come in the form of a ramshackle building that bears very little value. Hilarious and irreverent in the way we have come to expect from Keaton over the years, as well as containing an unexpectedly deep emotional core, the film is consistently driven by such sincerity and attention to each intricate element, flourishing into something that is beyond a masterful blend of comedy and social commentary. This is a film which features many of Keaton’s most engaging and entertaining setpieces that are borderline revolutionary even by modern standards, which are carefully woven into the fabric of this brilliantly captivating comedy that contains several elements that make it abunduntly clear why he remains one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation, as well as one who never fails to entertain when given the opportunity.

Keaton was never known to be someone to rest on his laurels, and each one of his films was bespoke and distinctive enough to never blend in the same way as some of his contemporaries (who intentionally draw on this ambiguity to create works that seemed to be part of a large, cohesive whole – its certainly not a flaw for filmmakers like Charlie Chaplin to embrace continuity between films), which allows them all to be instantly recognizable in terms of both their stories and the process of bringing them to life on screen. We find that with Our Hospitality (which he co-directed with John G. Blystone), we voyages into the past once again after the brilliantly subversive historical comedy Three Ages, exploring the period just before the onset of the American Civil War, when the United States was still extremely fractured, but also steadily in the process of growing as an economic and cultural entity. This was not the holistic purpose of the film, but it does factor into the story in subtle but meaningful ways, especially given the historical context, in which the director is essentially crafting the story of the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys, two families that allowed a small dispute to fester into a generations-long conflict that brought an abundance of violence and discomfort to both the families and those who surrounded them. Keaton isn’t intent on crafting an accurate representation of the feud, or making any particularly impactful comments on the events (as made very clear by the fact that the film centres on the “Canfields and McKays”, thinly-veiled parodies of the real clans), but rather using them as his entry-point into exploring this chapter in American history. He comments on technology, politics, social structure and cultural nuances as they stood in the early 1800s, leading to several bitingly funny but also genuinely insightful glimpses into the past. Keaton was as much a storyteller as he was a historian and cultural commentator, so while Our Hospitality is objectively hilarious, it is also quite compelling as a historical account of the past, one that isn’t wholeheartedly accurate, but still strong enough to carry a lot of weight where it matters.

Some people are born into a profession, others develop the necessary skills that allow them to become naturals within a given vocation. In the case of Keaton, it would have been an absolute travesty had he not become an actor, since he possessed several innate skills that would have been wasted in just about any other field. From his extraordinarily expressive face (few actors have been able to make better use of a perpetual hangdog expression), to the use of his body, which could oscillate between gloriously elastic and delightfully subtle, he could capture our attention with such ease. He is unquestionably one of the most integral figures in the development of silent comedy, and without his performances, many comedians over the years would have not been given the opportunities to succeed, especially those who relied on physical humour as their artistic currency. Our Hospitality contains some of Keaton’s greatest acting – from his first appearance on screen, dressed impeccably in a suit and hat that would soon be compressed into his iconic headwear that would make various appearances in his films, to the final stunning moment, he hypnotizes us with his incredible performance. The most interesting aspect of his acting style was that he never forced our attention to be on him – he rarely mugged for the camera or directed the scene towards himself in a manner that was in any way intentional, and instead simply occupied the frame and allowed everything to occur around him, with the ultimate result being that we simply cannot avoid being utterly mesmerized with his performance. There is a reason he is considered one of the great actors of the silent era (not solely a comedian), because his fascinating approach to performance led to work that broke not only the conventions of the genre, but the overall rules of the medium, which is perfectly represented throughout this film and reflected in his magnificent, endearing performance that is equal parts hilarious and touching.

On the subject of breaking rules and rebuilding them to embody his visionary approach, there is a phenomenon that is both endlessly amusing and unquestionably universal, and which has been glimpsed from the very start of Keaton’s career as both an actor and a director – the moment someone first witnesses his comedy and realizes that despite being made several decades ago (or in the case of some of his earlier films such as this one, over a century), there is something so profoundly modern about his style of comedy, which all comes down to the way he makes his films. It’s a startling realization to discover that Our Hospitality is only the second feature-length directorial outing for Keaton, who had dabbled in helming a few shorts in addition to the aforementioned Three Ages, which is immediately an indication of the inherent talents with which he was born, and which he continued to harness throughout his career. The spectacle contained within this film is astonishing – beyond Keaton’s performance itself, there are some truly impressive setpieces that gradually come together to form an unforgettable series of moments. His approach to making a film was building a story out of scenes and setpieces, focusing on each individual element and then using them together to create a more cohesive film, which quite simply occurs after a few dozen of these astonishing segments are cobbled together. This also allows his films to age remarkably well – even if they are intrinsically tied to a particular time and place, there’s a timeless quality to them which comes from the way Keaton crafts these films – in this film alone, we have unforgettable sequences such as the train composed of a few carriages loosely tied together, one of Keaton’s many delightful gender-bending acts and the astounding mountain sequence, which occurs towards the climactic moments and proves without any doubt that he was one of the most innovative and daring directors to ever work in the medium. Knowing the risk associated with each one of these stunts, and Keaton’s persistence in doing them as intended only amplifies our undying respect for his work ethic and desire to push boundaries, both his physical prowess as an actor and his visual eye for memorable sequences being at the heart of why films like Our Hospitality remain so thoroughly invigorating, even by modern standards.

There have been many arguments about around Our Hospitality over the years – some consider it to be not only Keaton’s greatest work, but perhaps the greatest silent comedy ever made, or the most brilliant and innovative work of visual humour of the 1920s, or even proclaiming it a generation-defining masterpiece. It may not have the recognition of the likes of Steamboat Bill, Jr. or The General as far as cultural cache goes, but it is still unquestionably a major achievement of early American cinema, and a film that has continued to be nothing short of enchanting. There is something truly magnetic about seeing Keaton perform – it is easy to understand why he directed so many of his own films, since its difficult to imagine translating this vision to be effectively conveyed by any other actor, and conversely impossible to imagine any director being able to harness his madcap, unique energy with as much elegance, humour and charm, meaning that he was an auteur in every sense of the term, and one of the pioneers of an artistic development that many take for granted. Much more than a quaint historical comedy, but instead a bold and ambitious examination of the past as filtered through the perspective of someone who consistently defied the very foundation of the medium that was relatively young but still forged with a seemingly iron-clad sensibility that Keaton consistently subverted, while still maintaining a fondness for form – for him, it wasn’t so much a case of revolutionizing the medium as it was challenging its boundaries, and no one proved that those borders are more flexible than he did, with this very film being one of the most pertinent and daring examples of this principle in practice. Daring, bold and utterly hilarious, and filled with images and ideas that are both simple and profound, Our Hospitality is the very definition of a masterpiece in the most sincere form of the word.