Sunrise (1927)

An allegorical tale about a man fighting the good and evil within him. Both sides are made flesh - one a sophisticated woman he is attracted to and the other his wife.

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

Carl Mayer (scenario), Hermann Sudermann (from an original theme by)

Stars:

George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston

Won 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George O'Brien	...	The Man
Janet Gaynor	...	The Wife
Margaret Livingston	...	The Woman From the City
Bodil Rosing	...	The Maid
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	The Photographer (as J. Farrell McDonald)
Ralph Sipperly	...	The Barber
Jane Winton	...	The Manicure Girl
Arthur Housman	...	The Obtrusive Gentleman
Eddie Boland	...	The Obliging Gentleman

Storyline

In this fable-morality subtitled "A Song of Two Humans", the "evil" temptress is a city woman who bewitches farmer Anses and tries to convince him to murder his neglected wife, Indre.

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Plot Keywords:

murder plot | troubled marriage | extramarital affair | city country contrast | national film registry | 

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Taglines:

THE SCREEN MASTERPIECE OF 1927 (Print Ad- New York Sun, ((New York NY)) 17 December 1927)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first silent film to be released on Blu-ray (by Eureka Entertainment on September 21st, 2009 in United Kingdom).

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Goofs

The number of bottles left on the table after the piglet bumps it changes between shots. There are five bottles when the piglet bumps it, but when the Man comes in and grabs the piglet there are seven bottles on it.

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Quotes

Carnival Gallery Man with Pig: Hit the hole... make the little piggy roll!

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Alternate Versions

Two major versions of the film exist - the version for the American market, and the version for the Czech market. While obviously the same basic film, the Czech version is about 15 minutes shorter and features alternate angles/takes for much of the movie - this was not uncommon in the days of silent films when marketing them abroad.

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Connections

Featured in Image Makers: The Adventures of America's Pioneer Cinematographers (2019)

User Reviews

A bittersweet symphony of life and love

Before the movie starts properly, Sunrise professes that life is sometimes bitter and sometimes sweet, and that is exactly what this film is; a bittersweet symphony of life and love. Flamboyant German director, F.W. Murnau directs this film with a great love and precision, his direction in the movie is flawless. Sunrise features very little story cards, and it almost totally told with just visuals and music. This is a testament to Murnau's talent for storytelling; to portray a story without dialogue is something that all silent films have to do, but to tell a story without many story cards either is something that many directors would struggle to do. The music in Sunrise is simply sublime; it fits what's going on in the film to a tee, and also succeeds in making the visuals' power more potent. Sunrise is a groundbreaking film, some of the techniques used by Murnau to tell his story are amazing, especially for the time. Techniques such as his use of flashback have had a major impact on cinema as a whole.

And the film isn't just a technical marvel either; there is more than enough substance here. The plot isn't massively substantial, but it's the subtext that is important. It follows the story of a man who, tempted by a woman from the city, gets talked into murdering his wife. Him and his wife used to be madly in love, described by their maid as 'being like children', but the love has since stagnated and so the man is easily taken in by an offer from a beautiful to move to the city. However, when it comes to doing the act; he can't do, and so the film moves into following the two falling back into love. Like life itself, the film is never plain sailing and that seems to be it's central message, along with the fact that love is more powerful than anything that life can throw at you. And those are welcome messages in any film, especially one as brilliant as this.

Overall, Sunrise is a masterpiece. It easily ranks as one of the best, and most important silent films ever made and it is as brilliantly technically as it is on the substance front. A must see for all fans of cinema.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sunrise

Filming Locations:

Coronado, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$121,107

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 79 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Movietone) (musical score and sound effects) Silent (alternate version)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1