The Buster Keaton Picture Show feat. Haiku Salut — York Mediale

Collaborations / Music

The Buster Keaton Picture Show feat. Haiku Salut

11 September 2019

The Buster Keaton Picture Show sees acclaimed instrumental group Haiku Salut perform an original, contemporary live score to Cohen Media’s stunning 4K restoration of Buster Keaton’s 1926 comedy classic The General.

★★★★★ “The pioneering genius of Buster Keaton’s 1926 silent film The General looks even more startling than ever…more or less invented the action movie.”

The Guardian

The General was described by Orson Welles as “the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made, and perhaps the greatest film ever made”, and is one of the last major films of the silent era.

The film is based on a true incident – the Great Locomotive Chase – with The General of the title referring to engineer Johnnie Gray’s (Keaton) engine. Gray has been rejected by both the Confederate Army and by his fiancee Annabelle but when Union spies steal the General (and unwittingly, Annabelle), he gets a chance to prove his heroism by catching up with The General and rescuing his beloved. In this ambitious production, Keaton performs all his own stunts using his incredible comic timing and body language to create hilarious, near perfect entertainment.

Presented by in collaboration with Wildfowl Sounds, Haiku Salut’s score combines electronica, folk, post rock, and neo-classical elements to cast The General in a new dramatic light.

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