The triple Oscar-winning Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans has been described as “the single greatest masterwork in the history of the cinema” (Cahiers du Cinéma). Fully restored and digitally remastered, the film won three Oscars® at the very first Academy Awards® ceremony (honouring the 1927-1928 season): Janet Gaynor for Best Actress; Charles Rosher and Karl Struss for Best Cinematography; and Sunrise itself received a special Oscar® for “Unique and Artistic Picture”.
The film’s director, F.W. Murnau was one of Germany’s finest director’s, responsible for such classics as Nosferatu, Faust and The Last Laugh. Arriving in Hollywood in July 1926, William Fox of the Fox Film Corporation promised and gave him complete artistic freedom. Fox told Murnau to take his time, spend whatever he had to, and make any film wished to make. The film that resulted was Sunrise, made entirely without studio interference.
Sunrise, a psychological thriller from the silent era, begins when the pleasant and peaceful life of a naïve country man (George O’Brien) is turned upside down when he falls for a cold-blooded yet seductive Woman from the City (Margaret Livingston). She persuades him to drown his virtuous Wife (Janet Gaynor) in order to be with her. This is one of the most moving stories every told on screen – a tale of temptation, reconciliation, reconsecration, and redemption, told with a lyrical simplicity that gives it the timeless universality of a fable.
See also:
The Masters Of Cinema Collection
