Silent movies - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

It's about time for some F. W. Murnau who was one of the most influential filmmakers of the silent era - and yet I only know one of his movies (which will turn up here eventually, I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about).
That had to be put right immediately, with a movie which many reviews rave about as it being a masterpiece, the best silent film and one of the greatest films ever - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans from 1927.

I admit that such labels always make me a bit nervous. I said before that I'm not a film expert at all, I just tell you a few facts and then how I like a movie. Or not. So if I don't like one that everyone seems to be so excited about, it makes me feel a bit shy about expressing my opinion. Do I like a film because I think I'm supposed to? If I don't, is it because I'm not smart enough for it or is there a different reason - and will I openly admit I don't, just because I think I'm entitled to my own opinion even if it may be unpopular with others?
Actually yes, I will and I guess I just wanted to make sure you know that.
Now I'm going to watch the movie and then I'll be back *cue the muzak*

Public domain via
Wikimedia Commons

"This song of the Man and his Wife is of no place and every place: you might hear it anywhere at any time.
For wherever the sun rises and sets ... in the city's turmoil or under the open sky on the farm ... life is much the same: sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet."

The plot (with spoilers).

Vacation time, the city people come to the countryside. One of them is the Woman. She has been staying for weeks because she has her eye on a farmer.
The Man is torn between her - a modern Flapper, passionate, uninhibited - and the Wife - old-fashioned, shy, sweet-natured - with whom he has a child. When the Woman literally whistles for him, though, he can't resist and follows her to the lake while the Wife sits with their child crying and remembering the good times.

The Woman wants the Man to sell his farm and come to the city with her the images of which she conjures up in his mind, the hustle and bustle, the music, the dancing, the people.
When he asks her what to do about the Wife, the Woman says he should take her onto the lake and drown her, make it look like an accident by overturning the boat, and take a bundle of bullrushes along to save himself. The Man throttles her, but she turns it into an embrace.

So the Man suggest a boat ride on the lake which makes the Wife very happy. Soon she becomes suspicious, though. In the middle of the lake the Man prepares to throw her overboard, but when the Wife pleads to him, he knows he can't do it. Reaching land, the Wife runs away from him and he follows her onto a trolley heading for the city. She is afraid and desperate, but finally the Man can calm her down.
When they see a bride enter a church, they follow her, and on hearing the pastor talk to the couple about love and guidance, the Man breaks down crying and asking for the Wife's forgiveness.
Coming back out of the church and walking down the stairs, the Wife holding the flowers the Man gave her, they look like newlyweds themselves.
They explore the city together. The Man gets a shave, so they can have a photo taken. They have fun at a carnival, the Man catches a straying pig from one of the booths for which he gets cheered, they are even asked to do a rural dance.

When sailing back across the lake, there's a sudden storm which makes their boat run full of water. The Man ties the bundles of bullrushes to the Wife just before the boat capsizes in the waves. He makes it to the shore and gathers the men from the village. They search the lake, but find just a few loose bullrushes.
The Man is broken with grief. The Woman, however, thinks the plan has succeeded and goes to the Man's house, but his reaction is not what she has expected. She runs, but he catches up with her and chokes her again.
Only when the Maid is calling for him, he lets the Woman go and runs home. A neighbor went back out on the lake and has found the Wife after all.

A new day begins.
The Woman is taken towards the lake in a carriage. She clutches her luggage and she doesn't look happy at all.
The Wife wakes up, her eyes light up as she sees the Man. They kiss and the sun rises.

"Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" was Murnau's first Hollywood feature after William Fox invited him to the USA to make an expressionist film.
It is based on the adaptation of the story "Die Reise nach Tilsit" (The excursion to Tilsit", on Projekt Gutenberg in German) by the German dramatist Hermann Sudermann and won the Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Picture at the first Academy Awards in 1929 (only awarded once) and also for best cinematography. Janet Gaynor won "Best Actress" (for her work on three movies in that year including this one, only later they changed to awarding individual ones).
It was not the financial success, however, that Fox had hoped for.

The movie is about temptation and the path to redemption.
Except for some short glimpses into the past, the movie dives right in. We don't see how the Man meets the Woman, we are right in the middle of the affair, so far in that the Woman already hatches plans for the future.

There are a lot of opposites shown in the film to depict the two different worlds, the city versus the countryside and modern life versus old-fashioned life, but also the emotional worlds.
On one side we have the two women, on the other side the Man torn between them. He's brooding, has a heavy walk (Murnau put lead in his shoes), he's unshaven and seems dark. After realizing that he wants to stay with the Wife, though, especially after the shave for the photo, you can literally see a weight and the shadow has been taken off him. He smiles, his eyes shine, he's light on his feet, and he's happy again.

It made me wonder if that is how the Woman met him and fell for him and what her motivation actually is for wanting to take him to the city with her. Is it merely a question of enjoying the power she has over him? Has she even thought about what life would be like with him the city because for me it was hard to imagine the Man there with her, just I couldn't see the Woman permanently in the countryside with the Man.

It is lovely seeing the Man and the Wife having fun on their unplanned day in the city, exploring what seems to be completely new for them.
There's a moment for example when they are so lost in a kiss that they completely forget they are in the middle of heavy traffic which is symbolized by the city fading away and turning to the countryside in the background.
I'll be honest, though, I could really have done without the chase after the young drunk pig, but maybe it was some kind of comic relief scene.

Do you sense a but? Because there is one.
I get the idea of redemption and reconciliation, but the Man  had planned to kill the Wife for another woman, and I'm not so sure I would have been able to forget that so quickly. Also, my image of him wasn't necessarily improved by the two choking scenes.
Of course that is based on the original story, though (which doesn't have a happy ending for the Man, by the way).

Would I say that this was one of the greatest films ever? I don't think so, but I'm not even sure I would want to say that of any film at all. There are so many and they are so different, how can you compare and pick?
If someone asks me for my personal five favorites, I usually can't even tell you those because they might not always been the same. Although there are films I say are my all-time favorites, I couldn't tell you how many there are.

Would I say, however, that I enjoyed the movie? Yes. 
I'm not going to list cinematic techniques here, tracking shots, double exposure, etc. (if you are interested, there's just one of many articles here). What I can tell is that they worked really well, for example when the Man is brooding and the Woman seduces and haunts his thoughts in a double exposure.

My favorite was Margaret Livingston as the Woman. I thought she played the temptress and femme fatale really very well although you didn't learn anything about her motivation.

I also enjoyed the overall mood, but here's another little but relating to that.
Murnau made the film using the "Movietone" process which means music and sounds, but not dialog, were pre-recorded and that track was played in the theater along with the film. I was fine with the music, but I found the sounds too loud, a neighing horse, the squealing pig, horns in traffic. Luckily, there weren't too many of those. On the other hand, I understand how he used those sounds and others might like them.
There are amazingly few intertitles, however. Murnau didn't like intertitles. Some of them were necessary in the beginning, but then were fewer and fewer toward the ending.

So yeah, in the end I guess I'm not one of those super enthusiastic viewers, but nevertheless "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" is definitely worth watching.
I can even see myself watching it again to maybe catch some more of those cinematic techniques that went by me the first time.
In my defense, it was very hot and I had a sleeping cat in my arm without being able to move - when the boy needs snuggles, his wishes are my command.


Sources:

1. Pamela Hutchinson: My favourite film - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. In: The Guardian, Filmblog, November 16, 2011
2. Shari Kizirian: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. On: San Franciscso Silent Film Festival, Essay, Festival 2011
3. Andreas Babiolakis: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. On: FilmsFatale, October 13, 2019
4.  Jaime Rebanal: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. On: Cinema from the Spectrum, June 10, 2016