Arguably the consummate director of the silent era, FW Murnau created the iconic expressionist nightmare Nosferatu (1922) and the fantasy Faust (1926); an eloquent modern parable in The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann, 1924); and prefigured the film noir in the transcendent love story Sunrise (1927). Murnau brought unparalleled visual sophistication to motion pictures.
Murnau was schooled in art history and sometimes modeled his compositions after specific paintings. Like other German filmmakers of the WWI era he was influenced by the lighting and staging techniques of Max Reinhardt (he was part of Reinhardt’s company for a time), and embraced the Expressionist effects of chiaroscuro and distorted perspectives. But more importantly, Murnau made the leap to re-imagine space in terms of the mobile camera; his films have a fluidity and dynamism that still feels modern to this day. Murnau’s fluent articulation of expressionist devices like superimposition, camera angle and especially traveling shots, all in a naturalistic drama, proved an international sensation, and he was soon offered a Hollywood contract with Fox.
The first fruit of that contract was Sunrise, which Cahiers du Cinéma would one day declare to be “the single greatest masterwork in the history of cinema”. The story could be described as slight: a villager is seduced by a city vamp, and comes to the brink of murdering his wife before he finds redemption. Murnau’s virtuoso technique doesn’t dress up the material, rather, his sublime images are the heart and soul of this essential film. Like Orson Welles in 1940, Murnau enjoyed unparalleled privilege on the strength of his pedigree as an artist and innovator, someone who would bestow quality and prestige to the business.
In many ways it represents the apogee of the silent era, a synthesis of filmic devices including dissolves, tracking shots, expressionist acting and lighting and breathtaking set design – plus a Movietone score and effects track.
John Ford, for his part, called Sunrise “the greatest motion picture ever produced”, and at the first Academy Awards, it was singled out as “Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production” (as opposed to Wings, “Best Picture, Production”).
Sunrise came =11 in the 2020 Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films of all time.
Sunday’s Pantheon screening will be preceded by a 15 minute introductory lecture and feature a book club-style discussion afterwards.
Jun 16: Introduced by Mike Archibald, writer, editor and filmmaker
Born and raised in Vancouver, Mike Archibald is a writer, editor and filmmaker. He studied film at Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and has worked with various festivals in this city, including DOXA and VIFF.
The summit of the then-new artform. Since then, in so many ways, it’s been a downhill road for American filmmaking.
Joseph McBride
The film is electric: overwhelmingly passionate and sexual.
Antonia Quirke, London Evening Standard
Reckless, romantic, and extravagant.
J Hoberman, Village Voice
Presented by
F.W. Murnau
Janet Gaynor, George O’Brien, Margaret Livingston
USA
1927
No Dialogue
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Producer
William Fox
Cinematography
Charles Rosher, Karl Struss
Editor
Harold D. Schuster
Original Music
Hugo Riesenfeld, Ernö Struss
Art Director
Rochus Gliese
Also in This Series
Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise)
The crowning glory of classical French cinema, this sumptuous melodrama brings to life the early 19th century Boulevard du Crime in Paris, where popular audiences for mime shows and carnival rub shoulders with wealthy patrons of classical theatre.
The Wild Bunch (Director's Cut)
The Mexico/Texas borderlands, 1913: Pike (William Holden) leads his gang of aging outlaws on a foray south for one last hurrah. Peckinpah's masterpiece, a savage lament for men who believe in nothing but find respect by dying in vain.
The Ascent
During the darkest winter of WWII, two Soviet partisans venture through the backwoods of Belarus in search of food, always at risk of falling into enemy hands. In her masterpiece Larisa Shepitko zeroes in on profound spiritual and philosophical themes.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Céline Sciamma's queer costume drama -- about a painter covertly studying a young noblewoman who refuses to sit for her portrait -- was voted 30th Greatest Film Ever Made in a 2022 poll, the highest ranking film of the past decade.
I Am Cuba
Infused with a palpable love for the country and a righteous anger at the injustices of the Batista era, I Am Cuba features some of the jaw-dropping camerawork ever filmed. A euphoric celebration of Cuba, the Revolution, and revolutionary cinema.
The Colour of Pomegranates + The House Is Black
This month's Pantheon screening is a double-bill, Sergei Parajanov's extraordinary evocation of the life and work of C18th Armenian poet Sayat Nova, and, The House is Black (22 min), the only film directed by the great Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
Fantasia
Walt Disney pushed the boundaries of animation and sound recording when he put together a movie concert: eight classical pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Stravinski et al, each animated in a different style. It's playful, sometimes cute, other times inspired.
Image: © Disney, 1940