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

Top Rated Movies #177 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 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
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vondell Darr

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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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sunrise

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #82 Greatest Movie of All Time. It was the first inclusion of this film on the list.

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Goofs

When the Farmer is holding his son, he sets him on his Wife's lap twice.

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Quotes

The Photographer: You'd look grand with a high polish!

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Alternate Versions

The Blu-Ray Disc release features the American version of the movie with 2 scores - the original American score, and an alternate, more recently-recorded one.

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Connections

Referenced in Cinéman (2009)

User Reviews

A movie of redemption.

This Murnau work comes from the end of the silent era,and the miracle is that it needs nothing:it has everything.There are hardly a dozen of subtitles for a ninety- minute movie,and that's enough.The rest is the actors'sublime performances and Murnau's flawless directing. George O' Brien and Janet Gaynor do not speak,and however,we can hear them,with all our heart ,with all our soul.Their faces reflect what they endure,suffer and enjoy.Because this is not only a drama.Sometimes it turns to a true comedy.For me the scene in the church climaxes the work:the husband,desperate to a fault,and his wife ,who saw her sincere love atrociously betrayed ,"get marry" again and the priest's words will drive you to tears.

Unlike "Nosferatu",which took place in dark places ,and before "tabu" which would be an hymn to the nature -in every sense of the word,and probably the key to WF Murnau's entire canon"-,"Sunrise" is a diurnal movie,beginning with a meeting with the husband and his mistress at the break of dawn,and ending in the deep of the night,but the very last picture brings back sunrise,which epitomizes a new beginning, a new christening,a redemption.And the man ,crying and begging for pardon,it might be Murnau who thought his homosexuality was a crime -Nosferatu might be a metaphor as well,as the hero who abducts a priestess he's in love with in "tabu" -A true auteur opens up in his movies,if we can read between the lines.

Murnau was,along with Fritz Lang,one of the two most influential forces of the expressionism .