Sunrise

F. W. Murnau, 1927
B&W, silent with musical score, certificate U, 95 mins

Saturday 4 August, 2.30pm
Sainsbury Wing Theatre

When a farmer has an affair with a woman visiting from the city she almost compels him to kill his wife.

A painterly control of light suggests the polarities in this elemental story: night and day, city and country, nature and culture.

Murnau's inventive camera work - using extensive tracking shots and special effects - and the expressive acting can seem eccentric at times, and the film's erotic charge and humour endures. It all makes for a rich, surprisingly modern piece of cinema.

'Virtue and Vice' Film Season