Jandy's Meanderings - Latest Comments in Film Classics – Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Re: Film Classics – Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Jandy — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:30:32 -0000

Yeah, Brooks would've been great. Although, as good as Livingston is, if Brooks had played her part it would've been even HARDER to believe the husband's change of heart. :) Though I agree with you, I didn't really have much trouble with that plot point myself. And yes, it is totally the emotional moodiness that Murnau makes out of it that makes it worth watching. With dialogue it wouldn't be half as good.

Re: Film Classics – Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Jandy — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:07:37 -0000

I'm really looking forward to seeing it again (oddly enough, the same theatre is playing it again next week, with a different live score - curious to see how it matches up). I've heard some criticise the husband's change of heart as not quite believable, but the power of Murnau's images and flow is such that I get swept away with it anyway. The whole part where the vamp is temping him in the swamps...wow. Incredible.

Re: Film Classics – Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Jandy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:32:32 -0000

Thanks for the kind comment!

Murnau definitely moved cinematic artistry forward by leaps and bounds. I found myself gasping at the beauty of so many of the shots - you're right about paying more attention to the framing, composition, etc. when watching silent film. And then the city was so kinetic, so frantic; such a marked contrast to the languidness of the farm and marshes.

I haven't seen his Faust. Trying to think what else of his I've seen - Nosferatu, I guess, is his. That's probably it. I'll have to work on that.

Re: Film Classics – Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Michael Sean Wright — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:26:47 -0000

Jandy,

Love your passion for great film. Watching silent films reminds me to pay more attention to the frame. Sunrise broke many conventions of cinema including angles, pace and shocking transitions. I wonder if there would have been a Citizen Kane without ground breakers like Murnau? I'm particularly fond of his Faust. He led the way in freeing the camera from stiff shots. Murnau was a master of movement.

Thank you for this wonderful post. Please keep sharing your cinematic discoveries with us.