Sunrise - A Song of Two Humans (Limited Edition)

A SILENT MASTERPIECE COMES EXQUISITELY TO LIFE...
SUNRISE -- directed by F.W.Murnau --- was a commercial flop when first released in 1927, but is now recognised as one of the greatest, if not the greatest Silent Film ever made. Depending on which books you read it rivals Carl Dreyer's THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC as the No 1 Silent Film. Upon its release, it met with almost total disdain from the American public, who could not relate to the brooding Germanic atmosphere, and the simple, almost banal story. A peasant farmer is seduced by the Woman From the City who talks him into drowning his wife and running off to the Big City. The farmer tries, when rowing across a lake, but just cannot do it. The wife flees in terror, jumps on a trolley-car and rides to the city, with the husband just sitting staring at her. This sequence is one of the many fabulous " mood setters' in this film and is one of Silent Cinema's most famous sequqnces, as the rural, lakeside, country pastures silently turn into the outskirts and then the centre of the...

SUNRISE-The Greatest Silent Film Ever?
Is SUNRISE the greatest silent film ever made? Many polls consider it so but to me comparing it with a handful of other silents such as NAPOLEON or BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN or GREED (not to mention the comedies of Chaplin and Keaton) is like comparing apples and oranges. What is without question is that SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS (to give the film its complete title) is one of the greatest movies of all time sound or silent.

A simple story of love, betrayal, and redemption is transformed and elevated into a work of art captured on film thanks to director F.W. Murnau. There are so many things to savor in this film such as the breathtaking cinematography in the village scenes which is reminiscent of the 17th Century Dutch Masters, the Bauhaus influenced set designs of the City, or the remarkable performances by George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor (who won the first Best Actress Academy Award) and Margaret Livingston that trying to compile a list of them here would take up too much...

A Silent Masterpiece with Even Better Extras
Sunrise won three statuettes at the first Academy Awards (It wouldn't be called Oscar for another decade). Including one of the two Best Picture categories - Most Unique and Artistic Production, Best Cinematography and shared the Best Actress award for Janet Gaynor.

Janet is a young blonde farmer's wife. She is happy with life on the farm but her husband gets a taste of life off the farm. He is seduced by a big city siren but the only way he could be with her is to kill his wife. This becomes a morality play. Will he or won't he drown his wife. This is a simple but stunningly beautiful film that you will not forget.

DVD EXTRAS:

Commentary by cinematographer John Bailey

Outtakes with commentary by Bailey - 10 minutes of outtakes with commentary - These are mostly alternate takes or master shot or just bits of film that were found.

Outtakes with title cards - Mostly the same as before but using introduction title cards for...

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