Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (aka "Sunrise") is a 1927 American silent film directed by F.W. Murnau. The story was adapted by Carl Mayer from (story Die Reise Nach Tilsit) by Hermann Sudermann.
Plot
Sunrise tells a fable of a married farmer, The Man (George O'Brien ) who gives up dinner with The Wife (Janet Gaynor) to continue an affair with The Woman From The City (Margaret Livingston)). The Woman convinces The Man that he should drown The Wife and move with her to The City. They decide he should take her out on a boat trip, commit the crime, and say it was an accident. The Wife agrees to go on the trip, yearning for any bit of time and affection from her husband, but soon grows suspicious of his behavior.
Analysis
Sunrise is a movie about transitions and choices, both within the story and without — a German expressionist film made by immigrants to the United States during the changeover from silent to sound film. The characters and the filmmakers alike straddle the old and new worlds, finding it difficult to choose between the familiar and loyal and the flashy and dangerous and ultimately selecting the former.
Awards
The movie was the only film to win the Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production (in 1929, for films made in 1927 or 1928) when it was a variation of Best Picture. Gaynor won the Academy Award for Best Actress. It placed in the top 10 on the Sight and Sound Critic poll in 2002, and featured on American Film Institute's 100 Passions. The film has also been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
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