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Shar-Lyn Tay
American Film
Professor Rheuban
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans tells the story of a farmer who has an affair with a woman from the city. The city woman tries to persuade the man to drown his wife, and the man, overcome by lust, agrees. After a failed attempt at the murder, the man is repentant and tries to make it up to his wife. Director F.W. Murnau brilliantly uses subtlety in portraying most of the subjects in the movie through doubles. I will show that Murnau cast his characters and themes in twos throughout the movie using various examples.
The man in Sunrise seems to have a split personality. He acts as if he has two sides to his life – good and evil. We get to see his Mr. Hyde persona when he is with the city woman. When she suggests that he drown his wife so that they could be together, he seems shocked and angry at first, but with a little bit of cajoling from the city woman, he agrees. The both of them gather bulrushes for the man to hold on to and avoid drowning. It was a well thought out plan. The man also shows his evil side as he is skulking back to his house. The scene where he sneaks into the barn to hide the bulrushes is reminiscent of someone guilty trying to cover up his crime before it even happened. The medium long shot and low key lighting that Murnau uses shows the way he sneaks stealthily in the dead of the night. He then goes into his house, slumps onto his bed and falls into a fitful sleep, then springs awake the next morning. His thoughts go immediately to the bulrushes that he hid in the barn as he recalls his evil plan. The man’s physical appearance and body language speaks volumes about his wickedness. He is unshaven, uncombed, and his eyes are always wild. He is constantly hunched over and moves slowly, as if put under a trance by the city woman.

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Murnau also makes sure that viewers are able to see the good side of the man. In the beginning of the movie, all we see is the evil husband plotting his wife’s demise with his lover.
When he finally lures the wife out onto the lake with the promise of a picnic, he takes the opportunity to kill her as they are alone. Bells from a nearby church ring, startling him, and he is unable to carry out his evil deed. He rows them back to shore and the wife runs away from him, terrified. The man is immediately regretting his actions as he runs after her. Viewers can sense that the man has transformed from a malicious, would-be killer into a remorseful, concerned husband. He follows her into the city on a trolley and does his very best to console her. He takes her into a fancy restaurant and buys her food as a peace offering. When she refuses, he leads her outside and buys her a bouquet of flowers. He is desperate to win her heart back, a far cry from the man he was moments before. The wife seems to warm up to his actions a little. The man then leads them in to a church, where another couple is getting married. Murnau cuts to a close-up of the man’s face, filled with sadness and pure regret. The man listens to the minister read the other couple their vows and he breaks down in tears as he fully realizes that he has wronged his wife. He is filled with shame for even thinking of harming his wife, as he sobs in his wife’s lap. The wife’s heart melts at this display of regret and newfound love. Later, as the couple finds different ways in the city to reconnect, viewers can see that the man has taken on a much sprightly posture. He is constantly smiling at his wife, and looks dashing after he was given a shave and haircut. His jealousy did emerge once, when his wife was being disturbed by a man at the barber shop. He threatened the other man with a pocket knife. The man has a very short temper, which unleashes his evil side in a matter of seconds.
From a technical standpoint, Murnau used lighting to show viewers the dual personality of the man. In one particular shot, the man is standing between the edge of the swamp and the trail leading to his farmhouse. The swamp side of the shot is dark and ominous looking. The trail, on the other hand is brightly lit. The light from the full moon illuminates half of the man’s face, presumably

3 his good side, while his evil half hides in the darkness. The use of close ups to show the man’s extreme emotions can be seen when he is about to grab his wife and throw her overboard. The camera cuts to a close up of the man curling his fingers. In the church, the man’s face is shown in another close up, his eyes filled with regret and pain. By using medium key lighting in both scenes mentioned before, Murnau manages to show the viewers exactly how the characters are feeling without compromising any of their emotions.
Murnau used the two women in the film to create a juxtaposition of the two characters.
Murnau used a lot of color and actions to stress the differences between the city woman and the wife. The city woman is portrayed as a vamp and seductress. She is always dressed in black, and is seen only at night in the film. She is portrayed a cunning woman, intent on getting what she wants.
She is straightforward with the man and lets him know exactly what she wants, no matter how absurd it may seem. The city woman is outgoing, as can be seen when she dances seductively while trying to convince the man to come to the city. Superimpositions of city nightlife are seen in the sky, showing that the city woman has already implanted these images in the man’s head. The position of the images in the sky could also show that the city woman is implying that such a lifestyle is from the heavens, and only the very fortunate get to experience it. We also know that she is brave as she dares to suggest killing his wife to the man. The city woman physically embodies the ‘vamp’ image that Murnau was striving for as well – dark clothes, dark hair, pale skin. When she cradles the man in her arms, it is reminiscent of a mother cradling her baby. However, the man is an adult, and her actions show that she is condescending.
The wife is pitted against the city woman in a completely different light. She is angelic, always dressed in light colored clothes, and a doting wife and mother. Janet Gaynor did a great job of portraying the wife. When her husband neglects her at home, the despair on her face is apparent.
When her husband asks her to go for a trip across the lake and a picnic, she agrees happily as she

4 thinks that her husband is finally coming around after being so ill-tempered. Her innocence is a total contrast to the city woman. The wife is also portrayed as very maternal. Murnau does a direct comparison using a parallel edit when he shows the wife hugging her baby, and then cuts to the city woman hugging the man in the same position. The two women are in similar positions, but with different intentions. The wife is also seen praying when her husband makes his way across the boat trying to kill her. She clasps her hands in prayer, and has a look of fear etched on her face, as she is unable to believe that her husband is wiling to murder her brutally. In a black-and-white movie, lighting is very important to create the right shadows to reflect the situation and character at the time.
The wife seems to have a beam of light constantly shining on her, as Murnau wanted to emphasize her saintliness. Another subtle implication of the wife’s purity occurred when she was sleeping. The window bars cast a shadow resembling a cross across the sleeping form of the wife.
These two women also bring out the best and worst in the man. When he is with the city woman, he is convinced that he can get away with anything – cheating on his wife, even murder.
When he is with his wife, he is under the influence of the city woman at first, even imagining the city woman caressing him tenderly, but later, warms up to his wife and loves her genuinely till the end. The man tries to kill both of the women in the film. He attempts to drown his wife out of his lust for the city woman. As for the city woman, he tries to kill her twice. The first murder attempt is when she suggested drowning his wife and another time is when the city woman comes over to presumably congratulate the man over the ‘death’ of the wife. Both women are capable in bringing out the deadly side of the man they both love.
Murnau also decided to make the two trips the couple make across the lake and to the city very symbolic of the man’s actions. The first trip is all about the man committing a sin and the trip home is about redemption and retribution. When the man first rows the wife across the lake, his heart is filled with the desire to get rid of his wife and start a new life in the city with the city

5 woman. He is so blinded by the city woman and ensnared in her web that he does not even stop to think about the baby. He probably does not even realize that his marriage strife was gossip fodder among the neighbors, and that he could be a prime suspect in his wife’s sudden death. He rows the boat hunched over and robotic, and dares not look at his wife. He is a crazed man taking his wife for a deadly trip across the lake.
Upon realizing his mistake, the man chases his wife, even jumping aboard a moving trolley to pursue her. She huddles in a corner while he tries to comfort her. He is unsuccessful in doing so as she continues to be terrified of him even after they have reached the city. On the trip home, however, the two of them are standing in the exact same spot in the trolley; only this time they are both happy and in love. Murnau wanted that spot in the trolley to have a double entendre, to make the place a symbol of where love was doubted for the first time, then cherished the next. The double meaning also applies to the trip on the lake. When the man reconciles with his wife, they decide to take a safe, non-murderous trip across the lake again. This time, he is doing it out of pure love for his wife. He is attempting to make up for his earlier sin by showering his wife with attention. When the boat capsizes in a storm, he gives the bulrushes to his wife in hopes that she would survive. This second trip sees him as a reformed man, willing to risk his life to save his wife’s.
Murnau liked to use pairs to get his points across. He used the contrast between night and day, the two women, the good and evil side of the man, the two trips across the lake and city, the difference between city and country life, and sinning and repentance. The use of doubles enhanced by Murnau’s skillful manipulation of lighting and settings makes Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans a beautiful, symbolic and cinematic movie of true love.