Movie Notes 013: Sunrise

Ole 2022-03-25 09:01:10

Narrative:
The peasant male protagonist was tempted by a woman from the city and wanted to take a boat out to kill his wife and then sell the farm and go to the city to live with the woman. On the way, he couldn't bear to do it. The frightened wife ran into the city and he chased after him. . When watching the wedding in the church, the male protagonist repented and the two reconciled. After an "exploration" in the city, the two returned romantically on the moonlit night. There was a violent storm, the wife disappeared, and the male protagonist and the villagers searched to no avail. In giving up desperation, the women in the city thought he had killed his wife as planned and came to rendezvous. When he was angry and wanted to strangle her, news of his wife's rescue came. In the light of the sunrise, happy ending.

Character arc: The male protagonist changes from being tempted -> refusing to kill his wife -> acting in hesitation -> regretting giving up -> repenting and reconciling -> romantic amusement -> losing his wife and despairing -> killing a woman with anger -> wife returning to a happy

tragicomedy: From wanting to kill his wife to giving up and repenting the tragic tone -> the comedy tone of the city's fun after the church reconciliation -> the tragic tone of killing a woman after losing his wife in a sudden storm -> the happy ending of the wife's return, the comedy of the city's fun The passage is also interspersed with a variety of emotional changes, such as being overwhelmed by kissing in traffic jams, the husband's nervousness about warning the man, and the embarrassment that the photo studio mistakenly thinks he has broken things, which enriches the viewer's emotional experience and achieves a stronger dramatic tension through contrast.

Lens language:
1. In this long shot from 5:32, the folks chatting in the foreground see the woman walking in the background and whisper, and the camera moves to the left following the movement of the woman (the carriage pulled by the background, looking at her And the talking women), rotate 180 degrees and start to follow the woman forward. The background information and movement (contrast) are rich, the movement in the picture, the movement of the characters and the movement of the camera and the camera are unified.
2. Starting from 8:25, the male protagonist peeks at the wife outside the painting -> the male protagonist draws the painting -> the empty mirror -> the wife enters the painting, the coordination of the space inside and outside the painting, and the 6-second empty mirror gives the audience enough time for psychological activities.
3. The long shot starting at 11:07, walking with the male protagonist in the moonlit night -> turning right and moving right with the male protagonist -> moving left with the male protagonist across the mound -> the male protagonist greets the painting, and the camera rotates to the left -> Walk through the leaves to reveal the woman waiting for him under the moonlit night -> wait for the change of expression after throwing flowers and make up -> the male protagonist enters the painting. Through the scheduling movement of the characters and cameras in the space scene, the different emotional states of men and women are coherently displayed in the same shot with changing viewpoints (following the male protagonist -> Wuzhu -> observing the woman). The sense of continuity of movement brings about The continuous expansion of space and information finds re-stitched formal integrity.

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Extended Reading

Sunrise quotes

  • The Man: [pleading to his wife] Don't be afraid of me!

  • [opening title cards]

    Title Card: This song of the Man and his Wife is of no place and every place; you might hear it anywhere, at any time.

    Title Card: For wherever the sun rises and sets, in the city's turmoil or under the open sky on the farm, life is much the same; sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet.