31. Sunrise (1927)

Directed By F. W. Murnau

Synopsis

Married Country Man falls in lust with City Ho. City Ho convinces Country Man to kill Country Wifey. Man tries to drown Wifey but chickens out. Spends day making it up to her in the Big City. Comes back, big storm on river. Boat capsizes. Wifey disappears. Man distraught, tries to kill Ho, Wifey is found alive. Finis.

Review

Ok, I think there is a danger in universally critically loved films to just follow the leader and I could be here just sucking Murnau's man-member. But I won't. Yes, it was a good film, but very few Murnau films were ever less than that. In fact it is a great film. The plot however is frankly simplistic but the great acting in the film really helps save it.

Other reasons why this film is important are the techinical innovations, not just Murnau's brilliant use of double exposition and tracking shots but also this is the first talkie! I hear you say " Eh, wot? Surely the Jazz Singer my good man." And I reply "Nay!", this film uses movietone and while there's only one sentence clearly distinguishable ("Get out of the way") the truth is that there is sound recorded for this film including indistinguishable dialogue on crowd scenes, car honks and church bells and even sung music and not like in previous films as a part of the orchestral score, but as actual sounds. Jazz Singer has longer spoken parts and music (remember sung music was already used in Phantom of the Opera) but it is still mainly a silent film, like Sunrise.

On the other hand this is quite a weak film emotionally, it didn't do much for me. Murnau's previous film The Last Laugh did much more in emotional terms for me. This is still like distinguishing between two very large diamonds. But there is indeed a difference.

It is however something you should definitely see, so buy it at Amazon UK or US.

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

Jazz Singer, Schmazz Singer.

From Wiki:

* Murnau apparently had George O'Brien wear boots specially weighted with lead in certain scenes to lend him an air of oppression and despair.

* When asked years later about winning the first Academy Award for Best Actress, Janet Gayor said that if she'd been aware of how important the award was to become, she would've appreciated the moment more, rather than simply ogling Douglas Fairbanks.

* Much of the exterior shooting was done at Lake Arrowhead in California.

* Murnau makes extensive use of forced perspective throughout the film. Of special note is a shot of the City where you see normal-sized in the foreground and midgets in the background along with much smaller sets.

* Janet Gaynor went on to star in Murnau's film Four Devils, probably one of the most notable lost films.

* 20th Century Fox released this movie as a special, limited edition DVD, available only by mailing in proofs-of-purchase for other DVD titles in their "Studio Classics" line. Copies can frequently be found on Ebay.