Sunrise - Murnau Flashcards
flapper
- known for their energetic freedom
- embracing a lifestyle typically viewed as immoral or dangerous
femme fatale
- an attractive, seductive women who is likely to cause distress / disaster to a man who becomes involved with her
a vamp
- a woman who uses her charm to seduce and exploit men
- distinctive appearance
woman from city (flapper)
- freedom resonated through sneaking out at night to have an affair, also encouraging the husband to murder her wife
- her influence is powerful and controlling
- shown in superimposition shot
- smoking
woman from city (femme fatale)
- her intentions cause distress (sell land and murder wife)
- shot of her cradling the man
woman from the city (vamp)
- murderous nature highlights her desire to push boundaries and embody danger
- short hair seductress lingerie
woman and the city
- mirror each other
- chaotic, busy
- negative effect on the couple (barbers and the woman)
countryside
- blissful, idyllic image
- represent innocence and obedience
- gothic conventions (moon, fog, darkness) only present when woman from city is present
dracula and woman
- both appear at night
- summons the husband away magically
- dark / black clothing
- slinks away at dawn at ending
- superimposition shot she is biting his neck
- haunting
‘several weeks passed since her _ and still she _’
‘coming’ ‘lingered’
woman
- initiates fallen man plot
- ‘fixed iconography’ (recognisable characters e.g. hero)
- dracula similarities which murnau was interested by dracula
- direct contrast to wife
- flapper and the city synonymous with their origins
the wife
- hair is pinned up tightly (metaphor for tight constraints on their marriage) the end her hair is long and luscious symbolising their found love
- submissive house-wife,
- cross-cut between husband with woman and the wife; they’re in the open and wife is inside
- purity of women, religious overtone
the city
- presented as the place to be, synonymous with the AD
- not a criticism of the city as it’s attractive with its attraction, opportunity and entertainment it provides
‘the other’ (woman shot analysis)
- key feature of gothic lit (things upset order, moon watching over, lowkey light reflects off her clothes)
- lateral movement of her eyes looking to the left suggesting evil, disruption
- cuts from woman out in the open to the wife indoors (freedom)
superimposition of woman on husband shot analysis
- husband is distressed with a fawn face (lateral movement) now looking left her influence)
- whispering in his ear haunting him (seductress, vamp)
- his eyes are darkened, synonymous with Frankenstein, heavy movement and fawn face
- placement of her hands across him suggests her power and control, despite her physical presence being absent
- physical representation of his fractured psyche, a look into his head
- expressionism
marsh sequence 1 the viewers
are positioned to recognise the damage that has been caused by the woman from the city and to highlight the emotional struggle the husband has been experiencing
marsh sequence 2 the woman from the city
waits for him outside his house, he is framed within a low ceiling and physical room barriers that highlight a sense of entrapment and a lack of freedom / choice that she has propelled over him - reminiscent of this femme fatale figure she embodies
marsh sequence 3 jagged lines and proportions
are synonymous with expressionist techniques, also seen in ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ where the director makes it explicit that the sets are unrealistic and abstract through the prominent use of jagged lines and proportion - symbolic of inner conflict
marsh sequence 4 as the husband ventures through the marsh
it becomes more expressionist. The viewer is taken to a dark, foggy marsh where we are placed in a voyeuristic position, following behind the husband as the 46-second-long tracking shot (which is a different edit feel to the other parts of the film), coupled with the ominous sound that elongates the danger he will soon face.
marsh sequence 5 kraemers score
Kraemer’s score acts as an expressionist technique, where it consists of slow major keys, synonymous to future scores in horror films (such as ‘Jaws’), combined with high pitch keys to heighten the foreboding nature of her presence, luring him into this enclosed environment that leaves him vulnerable under her control.
marsh sequence 6 the woman from the city and the rose
the one shot of the woman brings all our focus to her and the rose in her hand. Murnau has positioned the rose to be flung carelessly around in her hands to then be thrown away by the woman. The rose is a metaphorical symbol of the husband; maintaining control over him to then throw him away without a sense of sympathy, highlighting her true intentions of using him for his farm land. the rose is also synonymous with love and their marriage that she has carelessly disrupted
marsh sequence 7 vamp
Her deceiving intentions are reminiscent of the vamp figure, purely using her charm to seduce and exploit men for their own profits and earning - in this case, leaving the husband vulnerable and under her influence.
marsh sequence 8 infantilisation
His vulnerability remains constant throughout the sequence, emphasised through the parallel cuts between the woman from the city cradling the husband and the wife at home cradling her baby. The framing and reflection of the husband and the baby in both shots illustrates how the husband has been infantilised, his head if laid back as she holds him at a lower position from her. Cutting to the wife embodying a nurturing role towards to the baby - highlighting the lack of power and control the husband has maintained throughout the scene
marsh sequence 8 cross cuts
the cross-cuts are also symbolic of his abandonment of his family and the life he has created with them - simultaneously commenting on the power of the femme fatale figure
Hitchcock quotes
‘we should resort to dialogue only when its possible to do otherwise’
