Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
Rating: 9.1

Sunrise, begins as with a very dark, almost noir-esque tone. German expressionistic influences obviously play a major role in this, as the film features low key lighting, a lot of shadows, angular camera set ups and set arrangements. Technically the film is incredile, with it's extremely mobile camerawork, frenetic overlapping dissolve editing, and foley sound effects. I use the term noir because the genre stemmed from German expressionism, but also because of the story itself. Our main character is a farmer with a wife and child, who is having an affair with a vacationing women from the city. The woman is clearly the femme fatale, as she attempts to coax the man into murdering his wife, by making it look like a boating accident. Upon failing to follow through with the murder plot, the film takes a drastic change of tone. The man begs for forgiveness realizing how much he truly loves his wife. She eventually forgives him and they travel through the city, attending a wedding, carnival, dancehall, and getting photographs. There are also many moments of humor throughout the film, including a drunken pig that gets loose in the ballroom and a man desperately trying to keep his date's shoulder straps from falling, among others. These comic moments seem a little unbalanced with the tone of the film at the beginning and end, however I think they could have worked better with a tragic ending rather than happy one, as the best tragedies always make one laugh first. It has been the subject of question, as to whether or not the ending was a concession Murnau made to Americanize his film, whether it was the choice of the studio, or his own. I don't know if this is just my pessimism leaking out, but I personally think the film would have worked better with a tragic ending.