end

Noelia 2022-01-18 08:01:15

I feel that I saw several comments saying that the final turning point was abrupt. Maybe the version I watched did not translate the large German section that the team left in it? I went to find the original text and translation, and it was a note for myself.

The original version of the tubing I read is this:

Here, at the place of his humiliation, the old man would waste away miserably for the rest of his life. And here the story would, strictly speaking, be over. But the author is looking out for him who has been abandoned by everyone, and so he bestows upon him an epilogue, telling a story that-unfortunately-usually doesn't occur in real life.

Turnover: Here, the old man will spend the rest of his life in his shameful place. Strictly speaking, the story ends here. But the author is looking for him abandoned by everyone (or "the author (hope) can take care of him abandoned by everyone"), so he gave him (the old man) an ending, about a-unfortunately-in real life A story that doesn’t usually happen in the movie.

The English provided by the wiki summarizes this:

Following this comes the film's only title card, which says: "Here our story should really end, for in actual life, the forlorn old man would have little to look forward to but death. The author took pity on him, however, and provided quite an improbable epilogue."

Machine translation: "Our story should really be over here, because in real life, this lonely old man has no hope other than death. The author has mercy on him and provided a rather impossible ending."

Probably so. It feels like there may be this sentence in the original text? Quite curious who got this idea.

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Extended Reading
  • Maureen 2022-03-19 09:01:08

    Murnau is the true master of the silent film era. The film is completely narrated with black and white images. The style of the indoor drama is at its peak, and the humbleness of life is better than death is vividly displayed.

  • Lottie 2022-03-21 09:03:00

    This film tells the same story as "Sunrise", affirming its historical status in the German 1920s indoor drama film and its superb use of light and shadow, but the storyline is too weak, and the look and feel is far from Fritz Lang's " Magical movies such as Nosferatu, Nibelung, and Dr. Mabus the Player. In the silent film era, I thought that the silent comedies of Chaplin and others in the United States and the native German national stories were much better than this film.