Sunrise (1927)

 

Genre: Drama/ Romance

Time: 1h 30mins

Director: F.W. Murnau

Quick Summary: A sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.

This is a nearly perfect movie that is impressive in every detail, especially for the time.

Honestly, it's really fun to watch, offering moments of suspense and tension and other moments of humour and humanity. The story provides a very thoughtful look at the importance and the fragile nature of human relationships. I liked how it showed that people can manipulate you into feeling certain ways and shifting your thoughts for you. The plot isn't massively substantial, but it's the subtext that is important.

Janet Gaynor is wonderful as the wife she is always believable, endearing, and completely sympathetic. George O'Brien is also good as the husband, and both of their performances are enhanced by director Murnau's use of their body language.

Sunrise features very few story cards, and it is almost totally told with just visuals and music. Then when there were story cards to show speech they were done so creatively with a lovely artistic flair to them which honestly made this film even better than it was. For example - see words running down the screen and disappearing.

The main problem I had though unfortunately is that I was bored after the first hour. Too much tension had built up and been blown on a climax right in the middle of the film. Everything after that feels sluggish and I was honestly waiting for something actually interesting to happen, which granted it did pick up again but it went on too long.

This is honestly timeless, I feel like this story could be told now and absolutely loved. This is a very enjoyable movie with a simple but engaging story that is executed masterfully and is a joy to watch. If you're looking into getting into silent films this one is a good one to start with. 

7/10