Sunrise

I want to tell you about one of the greatest movies ever made. But first, a little background. As a film professor, I was always astounded that so many students had rarely seen more than a few movies produced before they were born. Think about that. If they were born, say, in 2000 or later, most of them had little if any awareness of movies made before that. They knew Pixar, Disney, Marvel and Harry Potter stories by heart, but they were largely blind to the flood of movies made over 125 years since movies were born.

To me that’s like being satisfied with getting your toes wet at the beach when there’s a great ocean out there, just waiting for you to jump in and dive. As I would tell my students, the true gateway to fully experiencing and understanding the power of film—the greatest art form of the modern world—is to open yourself to seeing movies, made in any language, from throughout the entire history of cinema.

So, what is this movie—one of the greatest ever—that I said I was going to tell you about? It’s Sunrise, made in 1928 by F.W. Murnau, the brilliant expressionist German director who also made the first version of Nosferatu in 1922. Today Sunrise is justifiably regarded as the greatest masterpiece of the silent film era.

Yes, you heard me right. I said “silent” film. What a shame that so many movie lovers today may have not seen Sunrise mainly because—for them—watching a silent movie is something they simply don’t typically do. If that incudes you, well, I urge you to get in the water and swim.

At first, the man is horrified by the idea. But then…kiss by kiss…lust takes control.

The plot of the Sunrise is simple…and compelling. A woman on holiday in a tiny village seduces a man who lives there with his wife and baby. Swept away by their intense lovemaking, the woman schemes with the man to murder his wife so they can run away to the city and be together. At first, the man is horrified by the idea. But then…kiss by kiss…lust takes control.

I won’t spoil what happens to the man and his unsuspecting wife except to say that—as you watch—Sunrise casts an ethereal, dreamlike spell on you. While it seems to unfold as routine melodrama, much more is going on here. Beneath the surface is a haunting fable about temptation…and the forces of light and dark that can clash and torment our hearts.

Of course it’s Murnau’s revolutionary artistry that’s largely responsible for conjuring this magic. In 1928 there were no computer-generated visual effects, and cameras were hard-to-move, cumbersome giants. Yet the bold camera work and stylistic visuals here are nothing short of astonishing!

No wonder Sunrise was honored at the first Academy Awards for being the best, most unique, most artistic picture of the year. I give this emotionally intense, artistic triumph four out of four stars. Yes, Sunrise is silent, but it’s also a shout out loud masterpiece.