Sunrise

• Sunrise (F.W. Murnau 1927) is a film from the Silent Cinema film movement
• Sunrise is a 20 Mark Question from a choice of two on the exam
• Students have 30 minutes to write their response on the exam
• Core Areas of Study

  • Film Form (Cinematography, Mise-en-scene, Editing, Sound and Performance)
  • Meaning and Response (Representation and Aesthetics)
  • Context (Social, Cultural, Political, Historical, Institutional and Production)
• Specialist Study Area


  • Critical Debates (realist and the expressive)
• Rationale for studying Sunrise

  • Sunrise reflects Silent Cinema at its very best as an art form
  • It is the most expensive silent film ever made by Fox
  • It is a product of German Expressionism & the early Hollywood studio system
• The exam focus is on how Sunrise is a Realist and/or an Expressionist film
• How to approach a 20-mark question on silent cinema

  • Spend 30 minutes maximum answering this question
  • Keep focused on the question (Short Essay)
  • Keep intro and conclusion fairly short and to the point
  • Focus on 1 or 2 sequences from Sunrise
  • Contextualise the film within its movement (German Expressionism for Sunrise)
• Learning Objectives


  • All students should be able to identify 5 aspects of German Expressionism
  • Most students should be able to identify aspects of film form in German Expressionism
  • Some students will be able to identify aspects of film form in the key text (Sunrise)
• Film Movements


  A distinctive body of films, each directed by an auteur. It is often further constituted by a related body of critical or theoretical writing. A film movement will be of significance in film history because of thematic and formal/stylistic innovations which characterise the films and which are, most often, a response to wider political, social or cultural changes at a particular time and in a particular place.
• Key characteristics of German Expressionism


  • Film movement in Germany between 1919 - 1929
  • Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock drew on many of the visual motifs to develop the psychology of their characters
  • Other key German Expressionist films include: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), The Golem (1920), Destiny (1921), Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), Faust (1926), Metropolis (1927)
• F.W. Murnau


  • Born in Germany 1888
  • Staged short plays as a young boy
  • Studied Philology at University of Berlin, then Art, History and Literature in Heidelberg
  • Joined Max Reinhardt's actor school
  • Served as a company commander with the Imperial German Flying Corps
  • A crash landing in Switzerland led to his arrest and internment
  • Was involved in the Prisons theatre troupe and wrote film scripts
  • Established his own studio with Conrad Veidt
  • Their first film was called The Boy in Blue 1919
  • His version of Bram Stoker's Dracula - Nosferatu made him famous
  • The film Last Laugh led to a invite to Hollywood
  • He made Sunrise in 1927
  • Died in a car crash in 1931
• Narrative themes frequently present in German Expressionist films


  • Narrative oppositions/doubling/duality
  • The known and the unknown
  • Temptation
  • Fear of death, consequences of dying
  • Alter-ego, other person within us, doppelganger
  • Sale of oneself for material advantage
  • The creation/existence of fantastical beings living within 'normal' existence
  • Notion of being able to control other people
  • Extreme situations/excessive responses
  • The emotional undercurrent of human existence
  • Fascination with and fear of modern urban life and technology
• How characters were often represented in German Expressionist films

  • Obsessive
  • Tortured
  • Melancholic
  • Anti-heroic
  • Mad
  • Paranoid
  • Overwrought
• Realism vs Expressionism


  Andre Bazin argued that German Expressionism and Soviet Montage filmmaking went against the "realist" calling of cinema. Bazin believed that cinema should aim to show an objective reality through filmic devices such as the long takes and deep focus. He was opposed to montage-style editing and exaggerated mise-en-scene seen in German Expressionist films as he believed this did not represent the world as it is.
• Sunrise combines Kammerspielfilm's realism with expressionistic elements to expose the feelings of the characters
• Stylistic traits of German Expressionism

  • Mise en scene used to convey character mental states
  • Abstract and distorted shapes and sets
  • Exaggerated acting
  • Uses of shadows
  • Contrasting uses of light and dark
  • Tilted, disorienting camera angles
  • Actors may merge with the settings
• Characteristics of Realism 'Classic Hollywood'

  • Shots tend to be objective; we view the mise en scéne without the camera manipulating our perception
  • Editing tends to be seamless with an emphasis on continuity
  • Camera tends to be at eye level
  • Favours a static, non-moving camera
  • Composition feels random or natural, often with an open frame
  • Lighting appears to be natural, neither high contrast or washed out
  • Real locations tend to be used instead of sets
  • Music tends to be diegetic
• Kammerspielfilm


  A popular genre in German cinema in 1920s. They were intimate, realist drama films which focused on characters' inner or domestic lives and explored the psychology of their characters.
• Key Scenes in Sunrise


  • Opening
  • Man and the Mistress in the Marshes
  • Boat Crossing
  • In the City
  • Pig Sequence
  • Closing
• Sunrise is dialectical, with doubling and oppositions central to its narrative and character arcs
• The narrative and character dialectics in Sunrise are further developed in the film form
• Sunrise combines Kammerspielfilm's realism with expressionistic elements to create a visual masterpiece
• The wife is clearly younger than her husband, while the mistress could be older than the male
• Females in Sunrise are archetypal - the good wife and the wicked mistress