Niall Martin
Lit – 246 – 001
Professor Kakoudaki
February 3, 2015
Silent Film Sequence Analysis

Sunrise Analysis

F.W. Murnau’s film, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1926), is widely regarded as one of the first pieces of cinema that introduces techniques that have become staples in modern cinema. The sequence, which this paper will look to analyze, can be considered the “birth” of the cinematic flashback. In the sequence, The Woman From the City (Margaret Livingston), has just arrived to the small town to steal the Man (George O’Brien) away from the Wife (Janet Gaynor). Through the course of the sequence, early cinematic techniques will introduce the new concept of the “flashback” as well as illustrate the symbolic struggle between the City and the Rural Lifestyles. The sequence begins with a wide shot of the Woman looking onto the house which the Man is inside. The light coming from the window and the white outer walls of the house contrast greatly with the dark, forested area where the Woman stands in all black. It is clear that Murnau is utilizing the color to symbolize the symbolic pull to the different lifestyles – a technique used to a surprising effect given the limited capabilities of color for the film. In fact, the only dark part of the Rural side of the brick wall comes from the Man as he casts a shadow on the curtains of the window. Murnau, perhaps unintentionally, has created a deep-rooted struggle in the Man already. Instead of showing the Man himself gesture to the Woman that he will meet her outside, the audience is shown the dark shadow of the Man succumbing to the Woman from the City. On a subliminal, shadowy level, the Man desires the City lifestyle more than his Rural lifestyle.
This idea is furthered in the following shot when the Man covers his white shirt with a black jacket and continues to sneak out of the house unbeknownst to the Wife. The Wife walks into the frame, contemplates to herself where her husband may be, and upon realization sinks to a chair in a powerless, sitting position.
The camera then cuts to a pair of old women that have not been seen up to this point. It is unclear if they are in proximity to the Wife at first, however their spatial location becomes evident due to the correct use of the 180-degree rule of cinema. Because the camera has placed the Wife in a certain place spatially, the audience can infer that the Women, who are looking along the same line the Wife was placed, are in fact in the same room and looking unto the Wife. These two women remember a time when the Man and Wife “…used to be like children, carefree…always happy and laughing…”
Following the dialogue panel, there is a crossfade into a new scene. This scene is clearly outside as it has a completely different,