sunrise - song of two humans (1927)

perhaps the greatest silent film of all time, sunrise - a song of two humans is a product of two very different minds. creatively, the film was masterfully conceived by german filmmaker friedrich wilhelm murnau (f.w.murnau for short), who was lured to america with the promise of a blank cheque by william fox. together they crafted what would go on to be described by influential film periodical cahiers du cinema as "the single greatest masterwork in the history of the cinema".

the film opens with the premise of -
"this song of the man and his wife is of no place and every place; you might hear it anywhere at any time"
a fact that rings true in many ways. despite the fact that the film is over 80 years old, it proves, much in the same way that a text by shakespeare might, that love is a universal and recurring truth. the pain of remorse and longing is felt in an incredibly jarring and naked manner. the emotion is laid bear and genuinely effects, which when you consider that the tools at hand to murnau didnt actually include conversation, arguably the most emotive form of communication, then the execution is all the more impressive.

the film follows the story of a man and his wife, peasents on a farm in a town over-run by tourists during the summer, who's relationship is thrown into turmoil upon the arrival of a young city girl. the man embarks on an affair with the girl, a bold action and major taboo to be explored on screen in the nineteen twenties, when, blinded by love and pursuaded to do so by the girl, the man plots to killl his wife. in the midst of attempting to commit the act of murder the man realises he cant go through with it and his wife escapes to a neary city. the rest of the film follows their journey through the alienating and culturally polar city, where they encounter a fun fair, a barber shop and fruitful traffic.

the city girl is a very early protege of the archetypal femme fatale. the fact that she uses the concept of her sexuality (prevalent heavily in almost all of her scenes through the choice of clothing the character wears) to lure and manipulate the man, again in an extremely bold manner for the time of the films production. the effects of the affair caused by the city girl are seen throughout the film, the emotional effects are not forgotten and lend to a fairly complex psyche for the lead characters, something seen most prominently in the scene in the barbers where both the man and his wife are overcome with serious cases of jealousy when each interact with the opposite sex.

while the film deals with some pretty heavy subjects it still lends itself a sense of humour. one scene in particular brought a smile to this viewers face like no other in recent memory. a piglit escapes from one of the fairground attractions, causing all manner of havok, before our protagonist can lend himself to the story and step out of the scenario as the true hero. as neanderthal as it may be, few sites can make a grown man laugh as much as that of a small pig drinking red wine and subsequently tumbling over.