Critical Evaluation Essay on Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Introduction

Love relationships are a common feature in the film and other literary works. No other work of film that captures love relations in the context of the early 20th-century life more than Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Directed by F W Murnau, the movie is a silent melodrama film that tells a story of love in the context of faithfulness in marriage. It is a compelling narrative that captures the viewer right from the beginning to the end. However, the movie's success in delivering its theme lies more in the effective use of cinematographic techniques When the director wanted to tell a given episode in the story, he did so by making use of his camera perfectly and also incorporating features that the tell the story beyond actions of the characters. Throughout the film, Murnau employs Mise en scene, editing styles and sequence to promote the idea that it important to cherish what one has while being careful about their wishes regarding modernity and pleasures associated with it.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Mise-en-scene plays a vital role in creating meaning for shots in the story in the form of lighting. At the end of the story, the shot that captures the bed of the wife and that of the husband, the Man, is crucial in building up the theme of the film. The image shows a dark-light room with the bed of the wife given prominence while that of the man has been significantly undergone cropping and, therefore, only a small portion of it can be seen by the audience. In the entire story, it can be seen that the Wife is a character who strives to maintain family through good values despite living with an unfaithful husband. She perfectly performs her role of the traditional wife and attempts throughout the story to protect the marriage. Shorts are critical in film production because of it through shots that ideas, emotions, and movements in the narrative of the story are achieved. The dark-lighting in this shot may have been intended to depict the somber situation in which the Man founds himself after the apparent death of the wife. Therefore, the lighting represents the emotions of the man concerning the value of the family, emphasizing the importance of what one has as opposed to the wishes that often result in agony when one pursues them.

Lighting has also been vital in creating a contrast between the two worlds that the Man lives. The shots capture the interactions of the Man and Wife on the one hand and the Man and Woman on the other in the home settings. In the shot that features the interactions of the Man and Wife, it can be seen that the lights are glowing through the interactions. At the same time, the camera angle is placed mid-frame to give the audience the best view of the couple's interactions which is later interrupted by the entry of the city woman. The glowing lights emphasize the value of the relationship between man and wife by suggesting that the time spent with the wife is a fulfilling experience. The angle of the camera also places great significance to the relationship between man and wife. Therefore, lights and angle promote the value in family relationships, especially between the husband and wife. However, on the other hand, the lighting featuring in the interactions between the Man and the Woman are manifested in the form of shadows and hash rim lights most usually cast by the moon. The lighting in this shot is significant in developing the theme of the story in that it underscores the illicit nature of the affair between the Man and the Woman. Darkness and light in the lighting emphasize what is evil and good. To a large extent, the shot seems to disapprove of the relationship or perhaps represents the position of society regarding marriage at the time.

Adding to the home settings is Mise-en-scene which features prominently in the city to advance the feature of character movement in the story. One of the most prominent tools that the director uses to pass his message to the audience through character movement is the use of tracking shot. This type of shot is integral in that the shots move along with the subjects who are the man and women in this case. In this short, the Man and Woman can be seen rushing across a busy road in the city. The woman is running away in fear while the man leads in the chase. However, the characters embrace each other in a short while, crossing the road together amidst the chaos of the city. In the shot, the camera moves along with characters- this is the defining characteristic of a dolly shot. The tracking shot plays a crucial part in advancing the theme central to the story in that it highlights both the confusion and the excitement between the man and the woman about the growing infatuation between themselves. The fact that the camera follows a forward movement of the character shows the power in characters to pursue this romantic relationship to as far as they possibly can.

Besides the positioning of characters in the story, the camera technique of forced perspective is also pivotal in enhancing the tracking shot described in the previous paragraph. In the shot, the camera takes a long shot that is in motion alongside the characters. The movement of the camera wades through people and the cars in the streets in line with the patterns of the characters' movements. The angling of the camera is vital in taking the shot in that it gives the audience a view of the streets thereby offering a clear picture of the life in the city. As a result, the viewers can relate the characters to their immediate environment. The technique is central to the development of the main idea of the story in that it depicts the man and women as two individuals who are eager to explore life in the city through romance. More importantly, the shot creates a clear demarcation of the busy and chaotic life in the city and that of serene, quiet rural life. Therefore, the shot enhances the contrast between life in the city and rural areas thereby revealing the confusion that infatuation has instilled in the man.

If the flow of the story is to be understood well by the audience, then it is necessary that sequence in the story be examined as contributes significantly to the development of the narrative and, indeed, its plot. The journey to the city made by the man and his wife as a perfect example of a sequence. The city woman tricks the man, and this motivates him to convince the wife to travel along to the city. The sequence starts from a static shot where the wife flees from the man in fear. The wife runs to the background by escaping to a city trolley. The trolley moves very fast, but this does not stop the man from leading over to convince the wife about the intentions of the journey to the city. The director perfectly utilizes the forced perspective to depict smaller images in the background while enlarging those of the foreground. The interplay between sequence and forced perspective makes the shot revealing about the contrasting lives of the city and that of the rural areas. As can be seen, the wife desires rural life while the man thinks that the best life is in the city. As such, the sequence mirrors the determination of the wife to protect her family on one hand while the man displays the desire to explore the life in the city as presented by the city woman on the other.

One technique does not feature prominently in the movie but plays a critical part in conveying the theme of the story is costuming. The costuming that captures the eyes of the audience relates to how men in the city are dressed. They are shown as wearing suits and ties and hats. This is a demonstration of the liveliness and the advancement of the life in the city compared to the attire of the Man. The dressing code appears exciting, and it is this excitement that lures the Man to explore city life. As a consequence, the audience can get a sense of the personality of the characters. For this reason, the costuming develops the plot by creating motivations for the actions of the characters, especially the Man.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Murnau makes a powerful statement in the way he uses Mise en scene, editing styles and sequence to contrast the rural and city lives in the context of a man who wishes to explore city life while holding onto his rural family. The director succeeds in the developing the plot and conveying his message by employing Mise en scene, editing styles and sequence. These techniques reveal emotions, events, and locations that develop the story. Overall, the techniques depict life both in the city and rural areas and how the two worlds affected the marriage of a family located in the rural areas.

Works Cited

World Films. "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | F.W. Murnau (1927)." YouTube, 16 Dec. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NayFytQeBE.