Sunrise
Sunrise - A Song of Two Humans
(USA 1926, 1927, Aurora , black and white, 97m at 24 fps); direction : Friedrich W. Murnau; production : William Fox for Fox; subject : from Hermann Sudermann's novel Die Reise nach Tilsit ; screenplay : Carl Mayer; photography : Charles Rosher, Karl Struss; editor : Katherine Hilliker, HH Caldwell, Harold D. Schuster; scenography : Rochus Gliese.
Ansass, a young farmer from a small country village, is subjugated by the charm of a city woman who convinces him to get rid of his wife Indre, drowning her during a boat trip. But, on the verge of committing the crime, the man repents. The frightened wife runs away. Only then does he understand the love Indre has for him. Ansass chases her and climbs with her on a tram bound for the city. Once at their destination, the two attend a wedding and the man asks for forgiveness: reconciliation is marked by a joyful journey through the mirages of the metropolis. But the man again risks losing his wife on the way back, during a storm that the fragile boat that carries them is unable to resist. Indre, however, manages to save herself thanks to a reed lifesaver that Ansass had previously built to return to the shore after the planned murder, and is found passed out on a rock by some villagers who came to help. Meanwhile, the man, convinced that he has lost his beloved in the waves, rejects the city woman who came to look for him; when he is about to strangle her, he learns that his wife has been found safe and sound. At the dawn of a reconciling dawn, the couple is united again with their little son. when he is about to strangle her, he learns that his wife has been found safe and sound. At the dawn of a reconciling dawn, the couple is united again with their little son. when he is about to strangle her, he learns that his wife has been found safe and sound. At the dawn of a reconciling dawn, the couple is united again with their little son.
Sunrise - A Song of Two Humansis a metaphysical tale that is affected by German romanticism: the world of the countryside (the simplicity of a nature that symbolizes the root and source of life) is opposite to that of the city (the hyperactivity of the overpopulated and frenetic urban world, with its fictitious pleasures and its illusions); in the same way, the country woman (the legitimate bride who embodies the gifts of humility and simplicity) is faced by the city woman (the illegitimate lover who resorts to the artifices of a purely external charm). The characters are primarily archetypes (the city woman does not even have a name). After the attempted crime, after the sin, the reconciliation will take place passing from the countryside to the hyperactive heart of the metropolis, and subsequently taking the reverse path. It's on the way home, in a final confrontation with the unleashed elements of nature, the definitive reconciliation takes place. The appearance of the dawn marks the full affirmation of the quiet, the rediscovered harmony of the couple, which coincides with the return to the urban world by thevamp .
There are few films in the history of cinema that manage to translate the deep psychology of the characters so happily through the expressiveness of the images, the movements of the camera and the gestures of the performers. The captions, relatively numerous in the initial part, progressively become rarer as the narrative proceeds. And yet, Friedrich W. Murnau is capable of describing every minimum aspect through the use of all the linguistic possibilities of silent cinema, which at the time had reached its peak in the United States. The filmmaker had already shown in Germany that he can master these resources, but with Sunrise - A Song of Two Humansit reaches a level of perfection rarely equaled with equal intensity and coherence. Murnau shot the film entirely in the studio, masterfully exploiting the mattes, the perspective games (for example in the scenes of the city funfair or in those of the protagonists' homes, which from a scenographic point of view appear to be the most clearly inspired by expressionism) , the skilful lighting (the splendid shot in which Ansass, in silhouette, sees from the window the city woman on the village road in twilight), the symbolism of the costumes (the city woman constantly in black: the silk of her dress, the hat, stockings, crown), the parallel assembly that takes on moral significance (the image of the wife at home while the lovers kiss) or that unites metropolis and countryside in the storm, the pressing rhythm with which the universe of city pleasures is returned. And again, the careful topographical exploration of places, the use of flashbacks and flashforwards, the superimpositions of composite images that contain internal movements, the fades that take us from one universe to another without changing the axis of recovery and the breadth of the plan on the characters. The outcome was such that Murnau himself could finally say: " shooting axis and the amplitude of the plane on the characters. The outcome was such that Murnau himself could finally say: " shooting axis and the amplitude of the plane on the characters. The outcome was such that Murnau himself could finally say: "Sunrise shows exactly what I mean. "The tragedy (the symmetric temptations of murder) frames the comedy of urban discoveries (the hairdresser, the photographer, the restaurant, the amusements, the dancing , the piglet ride, the peasant dance, the fireworks), but also the melodrama of passions (the couple divided by adultery, the forgotten and found son) and the comparison with the elements of nature: everything merges into a unitary work supported by an absolute aesthetic movement precision.
Awarded in Hollywood with the Oscars for the best female interpretation (Janet Gaynor) and for photography, in the judgments of the scholars and filmmakers Sunrise - A Song of Two Humans still stands as one of the most beautiful films in the history of cinema. Thanks to his immense fame, in 1939 a remake was made directed by Veit Harlan, 'almost official' filmmaker of the Nazi regime, entitled Die Reise nach Tilsit ( Towards love ), with Kristina Söderbaum in the role of his wife, elected in this central pivot case of the story.
Performers and characters : George O'Brien (Ansass), Janet Gaynor (Indre), Margaret Livingston (the city woman), Bodil Rosing (waitress), J. Farrell MacDonald (photographer), Ralph Sipperly (hairdresser), Jane Winton ( manicure), Arthur Housman (bold man), Eddie Boland (courteous man), Friedrich W. Murnau (boat tourist), Gino Corrado, Barry Norton, Sally Eilers, Phillips Smalley, Gibson Gowland.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. Blin, FW Murnau , in "La revue du cinéma", n. 25, août 1931.
E. Bruno, Note on 'Aurora' (Sunrise) by FW Murnau , in "Filmcritica", n. 246, July 1974.
T. Rayns, Sunrise - A Song of Two Humans , in "Monthly film bulletin", n. 495, April 1975.
R. Wood, Sunrise , in "Film comment", n. 3, May-June 1976.
MA Doane, Desire in 'Sunrise' , in "Film reader", n. 2, January 1977.
N. Almendros, Sunrise , in "American cinematographer", n. 4, April 1984.
BM Marchetti, D. Niccolini, Around 'Sunrise' , Urbino 1989.
B. Amengual, Murnau revisité. 'L'aurore' (1927) , in "Jeune cinéma", n. 13, février-mars 1989.
L. Fischer, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans , London 1998.
V. Amiel, Murnau. The chair des images , in "Positif", n. 457, mars 1999.
B. Prager, Taming impulses: Murnau's 'Sunrise' and the exorcism of Expressionism , in "Literature / Film quarterly", n. 4, October 2000.
M. Staloky, Sounding images in silent film: visual acoustics in Murnau's 'Sunrise' , in "Cinema journal", n. 2, Winter 2002.
Screenplay: in "L'avant-scène du cinéma", n. 148, juin 1974.
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