sunrise (1927)
|
viewing guidePress the buttons below to download your Viewing Guide and questions that must be completed while viewing the film in class. If you lose your copy, or are not in class the day the film starts, you will want to get a copy to complete and turn in for a grade.
|
film notes
Sunrise isn't just an essential silent film; it is, in many ways, the essential silent film. Helmed by German director F.W. Murnau and brought to life by actors Janet Gaynor and George O'Brien, Sunrise represents, at once, both the pinnacle of artistic cinematic quality in the silent form and the end of an era as well. It was as if silent film reached such a height with Sunrise, that is was impossible to go any further so the world may as well usher in sound. That's a bit of an overstatement but only by a little. Murnau brings so much invention and effortless blending of realism and expressionism to the fore that most other films, silent or otherwise, pale in comparison.