One Week (Buster Keaton, 1920)

Buster Keaton’s films feature aspects of fictional realism whilst also including expressionistic approaches for comedic effect.

Realism

• The opening wide shot of the film shows Keaton and his wife coming out of a church after their marriage is a static long shot; the lack of editing avoids controlling the audiences’s response.
• The editing that is used in the film is all for functional purposes rather than to create meaning; for example the opening shot cuts briefly to a close up of a new character before cutting to another long take of them getting in the car. Therefore the edits are used to advance the plot rather than have an effect on how the audience view the events.
• Keaton’s wife in the film is presented as the stereotypical American housewife through her costumes and performance as she makes breakfast in the morning for Keaton.
• The stunts performed in One Week, whilst extreme, are realistic in the sense that they are all carried out by Keaton himself rather than relying on editing or special effects to make them appears more impressive. For example when the ladder he is climbing comes away from the wall; his wife’s performance shows her to be shocked which furthers the realist portrayal as her reaction mirrors that of the audience.

Expressionism

• In the first sequence, we see a wide shot of them leaving a church after being married. Keaton uses the vignetting technique to act as a transition to the next sequence; the faded edges make the shot resemble a wedding photo. The use of editing to create meaning and provide information is an expressionistic technique.
• Exaggerated mise-en-scene is used to emphasise the fact the house they have built is badly constructed. For example when the house starts spinning or when the floor of the upstairs room begins descending as Keaton pulls with a wire from below until he releases the wire and the floor springs back into place thus presenting a disproportionate reality.
• Realism is abandoned entirely in a sequence showing the wife in the bath; she looks directly at the camera before climbing out before a hand covers the lens to suggest that we shouldn’t be watching her in this private moment. The scene breaks the fourth wall.