The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
When
Wed 9 Nov 2022
In his remarkable and groundbreaking first Hollywood feature, Murnau takes a simple, universal love story and gives it startling emotional impact through a breathtakingly cinematic combination of lyrical camera movement, model work, expressionistic special effects, early sync sound, German expressionism and American naturalism. In pure visual strokes, mixing the modern and traditional, Murnau creates one of the most moving and fluent works in cinema history. Featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Janet Gaynor, and beautifully modulated acting by George O’Brien and Margaret Livingston. Script by Carl Mayer.
Also screening on Wed 9 November
Program
The Brink of Life: F.W. Murnau, Cinematic Visionary
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) – Wed 9 Nov, 7pm
The Last Laugh (1924) – Wed 9 Nov, 8.50pm
Nosferatu (1922) – Wed 16 Nov, 7pm
Faust (1926) – Wed 16 Nov, 8.25pm
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931) – Wed 23 Nov, 7pm
The Haunted Castle (1921) – Wed 23 Nov, 8.40pm
The Grand Duke's Finances (1924) – Wed 23 Nov, 9.50pm
=
About the program
The Brink of Life: F.W. Murnau, Cinematic Visionary
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1888–1931) was a perfectionist, an aesthete and, in many ways, a visionary, whose poetic, painterly, literate and highly cinematic sensibilities brought to the golden age of German cinema new concepts of film form based on a synthesis of all the elements then in vogue – from Caligari-like horrors to an expressionist use of actors’ bodies through to a rugged, sometimes optimistic naturalism (especially in his American period).
Plan your visit
Read our COVIDSafe visitor guidelines, information on accessibility, amenities, transport, dining options and more.
About Melbourne Cinémathèque
Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.
Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven.
