Barry Purves - A follow-up

The talk from Barry was brilliant as he outlined some very basic elements and techniques that are often overlooked, but of which can be key factors to a films success. This is particularly true in regards to his reference toward 'King Kong' (1933) where the title character fights a T-Rex, however, from the few times that I personally have seen this film I always felt more of a connection to the character during the built-up tension that leads to the breaking of the T-Rex's jaw....rather than the comedy aftermath which Barry described.

I was also quite surprised to see the amount of hands that raised when he asked how many of us had actually even heard of Buster Keaton, although this reminded me of a recent discussion that I started a while ago in relation to Laurel and Hardy. I don't recall having seen any Laurel and Hardy been shown on television for almost 10 years, so other than the word of mouth between parents and their children there is really no exposure to the legends of old like Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton for the new generation to be inspired by.

The early slapstick comedians will always remain a source of inspiration for me as I not only grew up watching them, but because Buster Keaton in particular is the idol of one of my idols; Jackie Chan. Throughout his career he has always been very inventive with his surroundings and it's clear to see from some of his films where he takes his inspiration from.....I found this video that someone has put together showing some of the similarities.

In particular, make sure to get a look at Charlie Chaplin's amazing moment getting sucked into a machine at around 1:23.



I couldn't find any videos of it but Jackie also replicated the famous Buster Keaton scene where the front of a house falls on top of him, with only the accurately sized hole of the top window saving him from being flattened.


It was a shame that Barry didn't get to show us some of his own animated works, but when I checked his website later on in the day I was pleasantly surprised to see that he has an interest in the Japanese bunraku theatrical puppetry and that some of his works have been displayed alongside the legendary Kihachiro Kawamoto. Of course I had never heard of this name either.....until the Cornerhouse put on a few of his films a few years back, they were quite inspirational with their use of mixed media, and maybe it's because i'm into kung fu movies....but his film 'To Shoot without Shooting' was brilliant and if anyone is interested in doing the puppet thing one day then i'd seriously consider giving it a watch.

In relation to his but also in relation to Barry's lecture which mainly dealt with giving life to inanimate objects and telling stories from different perspectives, it would have been interesting to see if he has seen Takeshi Kitano's 'Dolls'.
I have mentioned this previously in a blog post listing it as my Film of the Decade, and i'm sure that Barry would love it as it is a clear example of what he was trying to get across.
It begins as a Japanese Bunraku play with puppets.....but the main bulk of the movie gives life to the puppet play through live action. Watch it!!

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