Samuel Beckett's FILM: "An Interesting Failure"

Fifty years ago, two of the most important figures of the 20th Century in their respective artforms - SAMUEL BECKETT and BUSTER KEATON - collaborated on a now overlooked project simply titled FILM.

Commissioned by BARNEY ROSSETT of GROVE PRESS, it was to be SAMUEL BECKETT's only film. Originally, he had imagined CHARLES CHAPLIN for its leading role. Then, among others, ZERO MOSTEL. Finally, ALAN SCHNEIDER, who was to direct, convinced BECKETT to insist on casting BUSTER KEATON, who at this point was mostly retired.

One would presume that KEATON would jump at the opportunity of working with a figure such as BECKETT, so late in his career. But this was not so. BECKETT on the other hand, had reportedly tried to cast him for his plays before, and there is speculation that says that his masterwork WAITING FOR GODOT was inspired by a minor work in KEATON's filmography called THE LOVEABLE CHEAT. Seemingly, KEATON had read the work, and didn't get it - much like the screenplay of FILM.

What persuaded him to work on this production was his wife, telling him this could have been his LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS, and a hefty sum - 2 million dollars - for only a few weeks works. Throughout the production, KEATON grew increasingly frustrated with his leading man's poker face and general disinterest for the project. Despite their creative divergences, it is also true that at this point, KEATON was very ill and would die of lung cancer eighteen months later. ALAN SCHNEIDER claimed that often he seemed like he "simply wasn't there".

FILM stands as an intriguing exploration of silent surrealism that stretches the boundaries of the filmmaking process. It premiered on September 4, 1965 at the VENICE FILM FESTIVAL, three years after it was shot.

In an interview, BECKETT revealed the meaning of FILM: "It’s a movie about the perceiving eye, about the perceived and the perceiver – two aspects of the same man. The perceiver desires like mad to perceive and the perceived tries desperately to hide. Then, in the end, one wins.”

Did it all work? Well, sadly, no. Reactions were lukewarm, and split general critical reception down the middle. Some praised it as a masterwork of experimental cinema, others just saw it as a failed attempt by a great writer to conquer a medium he didn't have the flair or understanding of. BECKETT himself saw the film as an "interesting failure".