Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans Murnau

(aka "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans")

directed by F.W. Murnau
USA 1927

F. W. Murnau — invited to America by William Fox, the promise of complete artistic freedom, and a blank cheque — made Sunrise on the cusp of two eras: it represents the silent film at the peak of its poetic sophistication, and the sound film in its infancy. Fox told Murnau to take his time, to make any film he wished, and Sunrise was completed without any studio interference — as though with a dying flourish in a medium which at that moment had achieved a startling richness of expression. It was the swan song of the era.

Conceived by Murnau and written by Carl Mayer while they were both still in Germany, Sunrise takes a simple situation — the marriage of a peasant couple (George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor) from a country hamlet, invaded by a seductress from the city (Margaret Livingston) — and elevates it to the realm of fable, stripped of melodrama yet brimming with poetic impulses. George O'Brien becomes almost gothically depressed by his affair and plots a Dreiser-like boat accident for Gaynor, his sweet wife. This doom hovers and flits like moonlight over the rest of the film, which lithely tries to dodge it.

Murnau captivated the Americans with his legendary "invisible" tracking shots, and together with double exposures, expressive lighting, and distorted sets, the viewer is immersed in the fate of these simple characters. Sunrise won three Oscars at the very first Academy Awards ceremony honouring the 1927-1928 season. Janet Gaynor won for Best Actress; Charles Rosher and Karl Struss for Best Cinematography; and the film itself won a special Oscar for "Unique and Artistic Picture", the only time this award has ever been given. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this restored edition of what Cahiers du cinéma described as "the single greatest masterwork in the history of the cinema".out of

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Theatrical Release: September 23rd, 1927 - USA

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DVD Comparison:

Eureka (MoC) - Region 2 - NTSC vs. 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Eureka (2 disc) - Region 0 - PAL

(Eureka (Master of Cinema #1 ) - Region 2 - NTSC LEFT vs. 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Eureka - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Eureka (Masters of Cinema # 1 ) Region 2 - NTSC	20th Century Fox Region 1 - NTSC	Eureka Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:34:51	1:34:19	1:30:30 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.20:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.18 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.20:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.90 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.20:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.89 PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
Audio	Original Movietone score (mono) and alternate Olympic Chamber Orchestra score (stereo)	Original Hugo Riesenfeld composed movietone score (in mono) and a alternate Carl Davis Olympic Chamber Orchestra score	Original Hugo Riesenfeld composed movietone score (in mono) and a alternate Carl Davis Olympic Chamber Orchestra score
Subtitles	Spanish, French and none	Spanish, French and none	English, Spanish, French and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Eureka Video Aspect Ratio: 1.20:1 Edition Details: • Full-length audio commentary by ASC cinematographer John Bailey • Outtakes with either John Bailey commentary or intertitles • Murnau's 4 Devils: Traces of a Lost Film — Janet Bergstrom's 40-minute documentary about the lost film Murnau made for Fox after Sunrise. • Original theatrical trailer • Original 'photoplay' script by Carl Mayer with Murnau's handwritten annotations (150 pages in pdf format) • 40-page illustrated booklet with essays by Robin Wood, Lotte H. Eisner, R. Dixon Smith, Lucy Fischer and David Pierce. DVD Release Date: October 24th, 2005 Transparent Keep Case Chapters 24	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox Aspect Ratio: 1.20:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by ASC Cinematographer John Bailey • 10 minutes of outtakes with commentary by John Bailey • Original scenerio by Carl Mayer with annotations by Murnau is presented as a series of still images • Murnau's 4 Devils: Traces of a Lost Film — Janet Bergstrom's 40-minute documentary about the lost film • Stills gallery ( 4 photos ) • Theatrical trailer (1:47) DVD9 DVD Release Date: February 27th, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 24 * Presently Sunrise was available only as a free promotional item from 20th Century Fox. It could be obtained by providing proofs of purchase with receipts (and $2.50 shipping) for three titles in the Fox Studio Classics series. Some of these titles are the special editions of All About Eve, Gentleman's Agreement, How Green Was My Valley, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Song of Bernadette, The Ox-Bow Incident, etc.. There will be 14 released altogether. The offer is technically open only to U.S. and Canada residents but expired January 31, 2004. It can now be purchased in a 4 pack - Studio Classics - Best Picture Collection (Sunrise / How Green Was My Valley / Gentleman's Agreement / All About Eve) HERE	Release Information: Studio: Eureka Video Aspect Ratio: 1.20:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by ASC Cinematographer John Bailey • ADDITION: Documentary by film historian R. Dixon Smith • 10 minutes of outtakes with commentary by John Bailey • Murnau's 4 Devils: Traces of a Lost Film — Janet Bergstrom's 40-minute documentary about the lost film • Original scenerio by Carl Mayer with annotations by Murnau is presented as a series of still images • Stills gallery ( 4 photos ) • Theatrical trailer (1:44) • 2 disc set 2 X DVD5 DVD Release Date: January 26th, 2004 Keep Case Chapters 13

Comments:

ADDITION: (Eureka (Master of Cinema # 1) - September - 05 :

There are some significant differences between the new and old Eureka discs. The old set was spread, needlessly over two DVD5s. The new edition is filled (7.43 Gig) on one DVD9. The old image had some digital manipulation (contrast boosting), and, most importantly, was an interlaced transfer where the new edition is progressive. The old set had a video documentary by R. Dixon Smith that seems to work much better as a written essay (this has been removed from the new edition, but the essay is present in the new booklet). The booklet is quite substantial and their largest to date at 40- pages (it includes a new Robin Wood piece as well as much more). And to be picky, the old edition had some very slow, laborious menus (and a very annoying croaking frog sound). The new menus are completely redesigned and very quick and responsive.

NOTE: There is a tiny Easter Egg of Murnau in his coffin hidden away in the menus on the new edition.

Versus Region 1: The promotion for the free issue of this release is over and it appears as though it can only be bought in 4-pack - Studio Classics - Best Picture Collection (Sunrise / How Green Was My Valley / Gentleman's Agreement / All About Eve) - HERE. Looking extremely closely the Fox appears to have some brightening, and possibly why it looks cleaner and the Fox extras are very good, although the MoC release has the best supplements by a notch with the liner notes.

*****

I understand through Nick Wrigley of Masters of Cinema that Eureka obtained a PAL master direct from Fox for this release. I think the differences are negligible, but with a film of this importance and poor condition, every bit matters. The Region 1 is slightly sharper. The Eureka has some contrast boosting, but the print looks cleaner. The Region 1 Fox shows some excellent film grain. The Eureka has all the extras that the Fox has (John Bailey commentary etc) but ADDS a documentary by film historian R. Dixon Smith. Note should be made of Eureka's fabulous looking animated CGI menus - they look great (but are extremely slow!) The Eureka is a 2 DVD5 (single layer) disc set to the Fox's single Dual layered DVD (DVD9)

- Gary W. Tooze

CORRECTION From Hunter Hale ( with thanks )

One note of error that everyone seems to make is giving credit to Carl Davis for the score on the DVD. Carl Davis, under Kevin Brownlow's PhotoPlay banner, did conduct a wonderful reconstructed scoring of the original Hugo Riesenfeld music -- but this is NOT included on the Fox DVD. The original score included was written by Timothy Brock and is, as stated, played by Olympic Chamber Orchestra. This score first appeared on the Fox Laser Disc release of this title. John Bailey, in his commentary, refers to the alternate music track as being by David Newman. Newman did write an original score for SUNRISE which was presented for the opening night screening at the United States Film Festival (now known as the Sundance Film Festival) in January of 1989. Newman, later, conducted his score for several live presentations around the country. No recording has been made of the Newman score as far as I am aware (wish it been, as I would love to hear it again!).

The Hugo Riesenfeld score on the DVD sounds better than it ever has. The score has been cleaned up (all the noise and hiss removed) and is the best it has ever sounded. It is heard in this form on the DVD for the first time. The score is amazing -- it works perfectly for the film.

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Eureka (Master of Cinema #1 ) - Region 2 - NTSC

(20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Eureka - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

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