‘Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans’ (1927) Review

Whenever someone mentions the 1920s, you probably think of the Roaring 20s, with jazz, drinks, flappers and parties. But what many fail to recognise is that the 1920s wasn’t fun for everyone. Maybe that’s what makes ‘Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans’ so intriguing - we get a chance to see both urban and rural life. While I love the Roaring 20s - it was a liberating time for many people - I think that this film offers an interesting perspective on it.

The story sounds fairly simple. A woman from a city (Margaret Livingston) tries to persuade a man (George O’Brien) to murder his wife so that she can have him for herself. However, it’s executed in a way that is captivating and engaging.

The acting in this movie is captivating. George O’Brien is known for playing tough roles and so this film suits him well, as his character tries to cause harm to his wife. The only other films I’ve seen him in ‘Fig Leaves’ (1926) and ‘The Blue Eagle’ (1926), and while neither of those two are good films, he definitely knows how to act strong. His character’s mentality in general was interesting. I guess I would argue that in some ways, his character helps to explore insanity. Although murder is very serious and an unimaginable thing to commit, O’Brien’s character agrees with the idea almost instantly. He does hesitate and is ultimately unable to kill his wife, but he was fairly confident in trying to kill his wife. That’s another thing - the film starts straight in the action, and that’s why it’s so engaging; the man is already with the woman from the city and the suggestion of murder is brought up only a few minutes into the film, so it makes people want to continue watching to see how quickly things will escalate.

The cause of the man’s insanity are the two women in his life - his wife and the woman from the city. While we think of the Roaring 20s as a desirable era, this film depicts rural life to be morally right. Let me be honest here, the woman from the city is the villain of this story. She wants the man to murder his wife and, unlike the man, has zero hesitations (yes, I know the man is also quite confident with the plan, but he has some worries). On the flip side, we get the wife, who is sweet and clueless. Janet Gaynor does a fantastic job at playing the wife. She starts off acting really positive and energetic, but once her character is almost murdered, she acts in a more frail, distressed way. She hangs her head low throughout most of the second half of the film and it’s very obvious that she is the innocent victim in this film. She acts really well that it does make you feel sorry for her.

For a bit of context, the glamorous lifestyles which are used to define the Roarings 20s barely affected farmers in rural areas. They had overproduced a lot and were unable to sell much, which meant that they didn’t become wealthy. So in some ways, rural life, despite missing out on some social and economic advancements like urban areas, was actually far simpler since they did what they always did - farmed and spent time with families! ‘Sunrise’ depicts rural life as being better than urban life. Since the man and his wife are new to the city, there is a lot for them to explore and the city is much more advanced than the countryside, but ultimately, the city is less than pleasant. The most obvious example of this is at the hair salon, when the man gets into a fight with another person over his wife. Yes, not very peaceful…

I love this movie and I am going to recommend it, especially if you want to start getting into silent films. O’Brien and Gaynor’s contrasting characters compliment each other and the film is an interesting take on the Roaring 20s - it’s something desirable yet destructive…