| | Sunrise (Masters Of Cinema) | |
Description
The pleasant and peaceful life of a naïve country man (George O'Brien) is
turned upside down when he falls for a cold-blooded yet seductive woman from the
city (Margaret Livingston) who persuades him to drown his virtuous wife (Janet
Gaynor) in order to be with her...
F. W. Murnau - invited to America by William Fox, the promise of complete
artistic freedom, and a blank cheque - made Sunrise on the cusp of two eras: it
represents the silent film at the peak of its poetic sophistication, and the
sound film in its infancy. Fox told Murnau to take his time, to make any film he
wished, and 'Sunrise' was completed without any studio interference - as though
with a dying flourish in a medium which at that moment had achieved a startling
richness of expression. It was the swan song of the era.
Conceived by Murnau and written by Carl Mayer while they were both still in
Germany, Sunrise takes a simple situation - the marriage of a peasant couple
(George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor) from a country hamlet, invaded by a seductress
from the city (Margaret Livingston) - and elevates it to the realm of fable,
stripped of melodrama yet brimming with poetic impulses. George O'Brien becomes
almost gothically depressed by his affair and plots a Dreiser-like boat accident
for Gaynor, his sweet wife. This doom hovers and flits like moonlight over the
rest of the film, which lithely tries to dodge it. Murnau captivated the
Americans with his legendary "invisible" tracking shots and together with double
exposures, expressive lighting and distorted sets, the viewer is immersed in the
fate of these simple characters.
Sunrise won three Oscars at the very first Academy Awards ceremony honouring the
1927-1928 season. Janet Gaynor won for Best Actress; Charles Rosher and Karl
Struss for Best Cinematography; and the film itself won a special Oscar for
'Unique and Artistic Picture', the only time this award has ever been given.
This is a restored edition of what Cahiers du Cinema described as 'the single
greatest masterwork in the history of the cinema'.
Special Features
- Restored high-definition transfer
- Original English intertitles
- Original Movietone score (Mono) or alternative Olympic Chamber Orchestra score (Stereo)
- Audio commentary from cinematographer John Bailey
- Outtakes with optional John Bailey audio commentary or intertitles
- 'Murnau's 4 Devils - Traces Of A Lost Film': Janet Bergstrom's documentary about the film Murnau made after 'Sunrise' (40 mins)
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original 'photoplay' script (150 pages in pdf format)
- Booklet containing essays (by Robin Wood, Lotte H. Eisner, R. Dixon Smith, Lucy Fischer and David Pierce), reprints and rare production stills
Technical Details
Region 2
Year 1927
Screen Fullscreen 4:3
Languages SILENT
Subtitles English
Duration 1 hour and 31 minutes (approx)
Genre: Drama
Certificate: U Universal - Suitable for all
Directed by: F.W. Murnau
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Release Date: 22-10-2005
