Encouraged by his mistress to murder his wife, a farmer wrestles with what to do in this F.W. Murnau silent drama. Not everything about the plot adds up (killing the wife is senseless since the two lovers could just run away together) but the film is assembled in such an inventive and thoughtful manner that it is never less than thoroughly encapsulating. The editing design is especially innovative with dissolve shots that merge images together, most notably as the lovers sit on a patch of grass and 'watch' the city at they imagine it, as well as the iconic shot of the spirit of the farmer's mistress wrapping her arms around him. The title cards are cleverly done too, especially the how word "drowned" drowns as a title card fades away, and the tracking shots are very ambitious for a film of its era. Murnau's attempts to lighten the proceedings with comic relief do not, however, always work, with a sequence involving a pig and a woman's dress falling off at the shoulders not gelling well with the rest of the movie. The farmer and his wife are generally fascinating to follow around though with a real tension always felt between them, knowing what the farmer has contemplated. Janet Gaynor is also very good as the all-too-trusting wife while George O'Brien impressively goes through a lifetime of emotions for a story that, as per the title, only occurs in between two sunrises.

Heralded as the crowning jewel of the silent movie era, this late 20s masterpiece was something of an experiment where its director, a leading figure of expressionism, was invited to Hollywood and given a large budget to make a film as he saw fit. And given that this film is still called one of the greatest films of all time, I'd call that a successful experiment. But, does it hold up?Well, the film is certainly peculiar when viewed by a modern moviegoer, such as yours truly. It's slow, heavily symbolic in its characters and turns of events, features jarringly obvious camera tricks (which I'm quite sure were seen as wondrous back in the day) and is overall absolutely slathered in melodrama. So much so that you absolutely couldn't make a film such as this nowadays. You would be laughed out of the movie business.And yet it works. Something about it being a black-n-white silent film transforms the melodrama into something quite touching. The score being the most major contributor. Quite often it's the music that tells us how to feel, how to read the scene. The film was one of the first ones to have a synchronized soundtrack, and they quite clearly took advantage of that.Sunrise is a good film. Would I call it great, or even one of the greatest? In a way, yes, but with asterisks involved. Still, very much worth a watch for all fans of cinema history.

I thought that this silent film was pretty great. The sound and words didn't even have to exist in this film to understand what was going on in it.The first shots of the city were very detailed. I thought that Murnau did a great job with the cinematography. The lighting was perfect for each angle in the scenes.The camera, directing, and acting were perfect. The actors had great expressions to create mood in this film.I really felt the emotion, suspense, and humour in this movie. This film also had a cool plot. It really made the suspense a great experience.George O'Brien did a fantastic job of portraying a man broken by society and looking for a way out of the life he previously made. Margaret Livingston is another actor who did a really amazing job. She does a great job portraying the "siren from the city". Ion the end she ends up exactly right where she had started.I thought it was unbelievably harsh that Janet Gaynor ( George O'Brien's) wife was drowned by Mr. O'Brien just to be with Margaret Livingston in the city area. It was all Margaret's idea... so that made the mess even more awful. I would rate this movie at a 6 out of 10. This movie is worth watching if you enjoy silent films in black and white.

I found this to be a very interesting movie. At its core, Sunrise is a movie about infidelity, and the heartbreak it can cause. The editing is great here, with some very nice cuts that flow between the different scenes well. I also found the use of lighting to be very dramatic, which helped heighten the high stakes mood of the film. There are many scenes where the corners of the screen are darkened, creating an almost circular spotlight on the center of the frame. I though this was a very neat effect and it helped both to draw my eye to the action as well as make everything feel more dramatic. If I were to find fault with the movie, I would say that the character of the city girl is not very well developed. Though she is meant mainly as a temptress to lure the husband away from his wife, I would have liked so see a bit more going on with her. Overall, the movie does a great job at establishing a somber tone that really resonates and I would highly recommend it.