Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

cricket crockett . . . for starting the fad of having troves of life-saving tomes in nearly every American burg and hamlet. SUNRISE, a far more important and watchable film than WINGS--its fellow first-ever "Best Picture" Oscar winner--clocks in at about half of that bloated fiasco's running time. SUNRISE is set in a fishing village which lacks a library and access to such cautionary tales as novelist Theodore Dreiser's AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY. This leaves unread innocents such as the first-ever "Best Actress" Oscar winner in SUNRISE totally at the mercy of vixens "in the know" with access to big city libraries and Dreiser. One such deplorable harlot nearly succeeds in talking a naïve farm boy into committing AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY-style murder. The spotlight shown by SUNRISE upon these dangers posed by a lack of libraries inspired philanthropist Dale Carnegie to begin his nation-wide crowd-funding drive which placed "Carnegie Libraries" in hundreds of often rural locales across the USA (many of which are STILL open for business). Carnegie's library campaign--prompted by his favorite flick, SUNRISE--was such a success that it inspired his best-seller self-help book, HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE.

Anssi Vartiainen Heralded as the crowning jewel of the silent movie era, this late 20s masterpiece was something of an experiment where its director, a leading figure of expressionism, was invited to Hollywood and given a large budget to make a film as he saw fit. And given that this film is still called one of the greatest films of all time, I'd call that a successful experiment. But, does it hold up?Well, the film is certainly peculiar when viewed by a modern moviegoer, such as yours truly. It's slow, heavily symbolic in its characters and turns of events, features jarringly obvious camera tricks (which I'm quite sure were seen as wondrous back in the day) and is overall absolutely slathered in melodrama. So much so that you absolutely couldn't make a film such as this nowadays. You would be laughed out of the movie business.And yet it works. Something about it being a black-n-white silent film transforms the melodrama into something quite touching. The score being the most major contributor. Quite often it's the music that tells us how to feel, how to read the scene. The film was one of the first ones to have a synchronized soundtrack, and they quite clearly took advantage of that.Sunrise is a good film. Would I call it great, or even one of the greatest? In a way, yes, but with asterisks involved. Still, very much worth a watch for all fans of cinema history.

dvn-86386 Compared to what I am used to for silent films (comedy), this was definitely different. Very well done however like most of the silent films. Had great drama to it, had a love story to it that was unexpected. Had some bits of comedy to it still but overall was all about the drama and love to the story rather than doing some quick little funny bits like others. Felt all the emotions coming from the film just like as if it was modern, if not better than a modern film. Overall a really great film I would say, must watch if you can get a hold of it.

CinemaClown Hysterical, heartbreaking & heartwarming, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (simply known as Sunrise) has been cited by many as one of the finest films of its era and has always managed to find a spot in the most sough-after lists, whether it's Sight & Sound or American Film Institute, and even after 90 years, it holds up quite well.Sunrise tells the story of a farmer with a pretty wife & kid whose downward spiral begins when he starts an affair with a city girl vacationing in their town who wants him to move to the city with her. Things are set in motion when she suggests him to get rid of his wife by drowning her in a staged accident. Reluctant at first, he decides to go ahead with the plan.Directed by F.W. Murnau, I almost gave up on this film within 5 minutes into the story as its opening moments seemed a tad too dull & uninvolving. But the decision to continue turned out to be a wise one as Sunrise only gets better with time and becomes more n more compelling before finishing on a satisfying & rewarding note. Add to that, it's full of filmmaking innovations.Murnau stacks the first act with frequent use of title cards but it is then slowly phased out as plot progresses and is virtually absent near the end. Cinematography makes use of forced perspective, soft focus & superimposed images in addition to distinct camera angles, tracking shorts & clever transitions, each contributing to its symbolic effect while adding a chapter to filmmaking manual.Coming to the acting department, the cast consists of George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor & Margaret Livingston and with no dialogue, they have to rely on their expressions to articulate the desired emotions and for the most part, they do a fine job. Gaynor is absolutely spot-on here and it's an absolutely show-stealing work from the actress. Lastly, it's one of the first films to incorporate a full-fledged sound & score.On an overall scale, Sunrise is the first silent feature I've seen that didn't star Charles Chaplin or Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd, and while there are a few amusing moments here n there, it is an endearing love story that brims with charm & heartfelt passion. Having endured the test of time for nearly a century now, this first & only recipient of the Academy Award for Unique & Artistic Picture lives up to its legacy and will remain an enduring classic.