Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
Country: US
Technical: bw 97m silent
Director: F. W. Murnau
Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
Synopsis:
A farmer is tempted by a woman from the city into killing his wife so that they can run away together (no provision is made for the small son); however, he cannot go through with it and she runs away to the city, whither he follows her to win her back.
Review:
An extraordinary film, apparently set nowhere in particular and made by Germans in Hollywood in such a way that it looks decidedly Mittel-European. The acting of Janet Gaynor was awarded at the Oscars but it is the early soundtrack and virtuosic visual effects that catch the attention most of all. There are impressive cityscapes, partly conjured from miniatures, and an impressive storm on a lake, not to mention that strange luminescent quality black and white had back then. All in all a painterly masterpiece if a dramatically schematic one.
Country: US
Technical: bw 97m silent
Director: F. W. Murnau
Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
Synopsis:
A farmer is tempted by a woman from the city into killing his wife so that they can run away together (no provision is made for the small son); however, he cannot go through with it and she runs away to the city, whither he follows her to win her back.
Review:
An extraordinary film, apparently set nowhere in particular and made by Germans in Hollywood in such a way that it looks decidedly Mittel-European. The acting of Janet Gaynor was awarded at the Oscars but it is the early soundtrack and virtuosic visual effects that catch the attention most of all. There are impressive cityscapes, partly conjured from miniatures, and an impressive storm on a lake, not to mention that strange luminescent quality black and white had back then. All in all a painterly masterpiece if a dramatically schematic one.
Country: US
Technical: bw 97m silent
Director: F. W. Murnau
Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
Synopsis:
A farmer is tempted by a woman from the city into killing his wife so that they can run away together (no provision is made for the small son); however, he cannot go through with it and she runs away to the city, whither he follows her to win her back.
Review:
An extraordinary film, apparently set nowhere in particular and made by Germans in Hollywood in such a way that it looks decidedly Mittel-European. The acting of Janet Gaynor was awarded at the Oscars but it is the early soundtrack and virtuosic visual effects that catch the attention most of all. There are impressive cityscapes, partly conjured from miniatures, and an impressive storm on a lake, not to mention that strange luminescent quality black and white had back then. All in all a painterly masterpiece if a dramatically schematic one.