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Analysis Of The Film Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans

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During the 1920s, American society began to adopt values that threatened the traditional values that remained from the 1800s. Many of these changes were a direct result of the youth culture of the time and how their uncertainty of who they were helped contribute to these changes in values. Throughout the decade, the struggle between modern and anti-modern values was exemplified in literature, drama and silent film of the American culture. “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” represents the conflicting modernist and anti-modernist sentiments of the time through its use of cinematography and characterization. “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”, the 1927 film by F.W. Murnau, is a shining example of the struggle between modern and anti-modern values that …show more content…

In the scene with the trip to the city, all these elements come together to form a crossover from city to country that was representative of the differences between urban and rural life, which directly reflects the dichotomy of modern and anti-modern views of the time. The most important aspect of Murnau’s direction is the direct contrast presented between city and country life. The trip to the city scene begins with a static shot of Indre running from Anses, and analyzing this shot reveals how the action, i.e., her running from her husband, is representative of the film’s main transition from country to city. The entirety of “Sunrise” is based around this concept of an escape to the city; in this sequence, Indre escapes from Anses by way of moving trolley, symbolizing the main border crossing of the film. Anses jumps onto the trolley in order to pursue his wife; the fast movement of the trolley and the frantic leap both represent fast-paced city life in opposition to the quiet, calm life of the country, creating a defined boundary of …show more content…

The use of visual cinematics allows F.W. Murnau to create a film that shows the main characters being lost, then eventually found, within the setting of a modern frontier. Murnau argues, through the use of the film, that the boundaries between love and lust, city and country, and even life and death are not as distinct as one may believe, and that they cannot be contained by defined

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