Sunrise

Title: Sunrise 
Year: 1927
Country: USA
Director: F.W. Murnau
Producer: William Fox
Genre: Drama & Romance 
Oscars: William Fox (unique and artistic picture); Janet Gaynor (actress); Charles Rosher & Karl Strauss (photography)
Oscar Nominations: Rochus Gliese (art direction)
Runtime: 110 minutes 
Viewed: June 24, 2013

Review: If you've been following my journey for awhile then you probably noticed two new categories listed above! Well, that's because this is the first year they had the Academy Awards. The book noted that most believe that the first Best Picture was Wings, well that is accurate except for the fact that the academy actually honored two films, Sunrise of course being the second. 

I really wanted to like this movie, especially since it was recognized by the Academy, but I didn't. I actually remember the most about this movie out of all of the silent ones thus far because it made me so angry! I always read what 1001 says before I watch the movie and based on the description I did not think it would be bad. However, I was very wrong. The plot itself is so simple but the execution enraged me. 

The concept is that this mysterious woman comes to town and the married man falls for her and she convinces him to kill his wife so they can be together. So let me tell you how I saw this movie. A man falls for a new woman after his wife fairly recently had a baby, she tells him to kill the wife, he tries to follow through, fails to do so, tries to make up to his wife for trying to kill her, almost loses her in the storm, tries to kill the mistress, and then everything ends well because the wife is alive. 

GAG! Seriously, I'm sorry but this sounds like the pattern of a domestic violence perpetrator and that is not a film I want to watch. Oh I'm sorry I tried to kill my wife, let's experience the honeymoon period again and make everything better. I was kind of hoping the wife died so that he would have to suffer for what he had tried to do her, but of course not. This is not a movie I like. I wouldn't want to watch it again and I definitely wouldn't make someone else sit through it. Strong feelings about cheating and abuse are never going to be pushed aside. I guess you could say getting my degree in Sociology ruined this film for me, but I'm okay with that. 

Rating: 
2 Shamrocks (The only reason it's getting 2 is because visually it is appealing but if it was based solely on the story and my level of enjoyment of the film, it'd be a 1) 

Movie 31 down... 970 to go!