Sunrise (1927)

Sunrise (1927) Film Analysis
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Sunrise (1927) Film Analysis
Produced in 1927 by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Sunrise depicts the human condition’s dramatic, comedic, and horrifying story. In this movie, Murnau ingeniously utilizes the concept of film as a form of art through various topics, such as lust, grief, love, and horror (Murnau, 1927). Directed by Murnau, Sunrise was produced through a 1920s film movement referred to as German Expressionism. Sunrise, a silent film, contained scenes of visual articulacy, which helped render its meaning without talking. The silent film refers to the notion that a cinema can speak in an international way that the audience understands. Through several shots in Sunrise, Murnau showed the use of silence as a form of art. The film is full of cinematic innovations, particularly remarkable in the tracking shots (Murnau, 1927). Although the use of tracking or dolly shots appears to follow a chaotic direction, it is evident that they were instrumental in the creation of Sunrise and the story’s development as perceived by Murnau.
In this film, Murnau uses different inventive techniques to tell the story. Primarily, mise-en-scene and camera techniques are vital elements that offer a shot purpose. An example of the famous tracking shot is evident in the case of the two main protagonists, who are seen rushing across a busy road. In this scene, the woman appears to be running away from the man in fear. Conversely, in this shot, the actors embrace each other and subsequently cross the road together, escaping the city’s chaos closely. Murnau uses the camera as a shot long-focal-length lens, which helps weave people and cars through the main characters’ ways (Murnau, 1927). Notably, the titles appear sparingly and contain a long sequence of pure action. Murnau uses this technique to illustrate the couple’s struggles and relationship. The picture helps the audience connect with Murnau’s story by showing them the setting and home of the city woman who persuaded the man to drown his wife. Besides, this shot shows the turmoil associated with city life and its overwhelming effect on their relationship.
Murnau’s use of thematic elements in the film’s production plays a crucial role in depicting its concept and direction. For instance, the film contains scenes that evoke the viewer’s emotions, such as silence as a form of art, making it easy for them to understand the intended message without talking. The continuous application of silence as a form of art seems to play a crucial role as it introduces a language that every viewer, regardless of whether local or international, can understand. Notably, innovative cinematography makes it exciting and worthy to watch because of the various actions that utilize this element (Murnau, 1927). In a discussion about the film in 1928, Murnau stated that the shots were captured in different locations. Through his sentiments, it is evident that the framing of the Sunrise film dictates the direction, distance, camera angle, and shot level. The combination of these factors explains why there is a variance in tracking shots, as evident in different scenes. The camera’s ...