As I was about to pull the CD out of the Netflix sleeve I looked down... and saw:
2 hours and 55 min!!!
I almost fainted. Lindsay just said, "yea we are going to need wine." So realizing we were in for the long haul, we changed into comfy sweats, poured some wine, popped the popcorn and settled in.
In the movie "the man" (yes that is actually the name of the character) falls for "a woman of the city" who is on vacation in his small town. The "woman of the city" asks "the man" to come away with her to the City, but there is one problem. "The man" is married to "the wife" (hilarious). The "woman from the city" convinces "the man" to drown his wife and make it look like an accident in order for him to come away with her. He decides to tell his wife he is taking her across the lake to the City for a trip alone, and plans to drown her on the way there. When he reaches the middle of the lake, he gets up to execute the deed but finds that he cannot do it. Once on the other side he spends the day convincing his wife that he wont hurt her and that he is sorry. They stumble across a wedding in progress and when "the man" hears the priest talk about love and honor and protecting his wife, he breaks down, realizing how much he loves her. They spend the rest of the day falling in love all over again in the city, but fate may intervene after all on their way home... dun dun dun!
Now let me say, watching a silent film is best done with a bottle of wine. Why? Because about 20 min into it you start making up the lines that the actors should be saying. It gets very interesting. Also, you find yourself yelling at the movie more, almost as if because they aren't saying anything, you have to compensate.
Me: "Pick the blonde!!!" "The blonde!!!!"
Lindsay: "He should be with her, because she is a 'woman of the city', which means she is loose."
Surprisingly though, the movie was actually really good! and THANK GOD was not actually 2 hr and 55 min long! Only an hour and a half! I was actually surprised at how engaged I became watching the movie, and how it was still able to draw me into the plot without any words. The music played a huge role in the success of the movie, because it replaced the inflections in the characters voices that normally convey the emotion of the characters. Also, the characters had to really act, and I mean really act well. Everything had to be over the top in order to be effective. Lindsay and I wondered if they actually said words when their mouths moved during filming.. curious
If you really appreciate film and can enjoy one for the score, acting and symbolism then you will like this movie!
- Rumor has that George O'Brien was forced to wear lead boots in the early passages of the film when the Man is weighed down with guilt over his decision to kill his wife.
- Sunrise was released just a few months after "The Jazz Singer", which was the first movie with sound. This affected the amount of people who were interested to see a movie that didn't have sound.
- The original negatives of the film were destroyed in a fire in 1937.
When to See it: With a glass of wine and with someone who appreciates film
Rated: N/A
Run Time: NOT 3 hrs long.... 1.5 :)