Review of Sunrise (1985) by Eric B — 26 Oct 2011

Best Picture Project (1927 Winner): Here's a film that hasn't aged in the slightest despite being nearly 85 years old. The cinematography is some of the greatest I've ever seen, with Murnau making use of clever editing and old fashioned "green screen" in order to add a visual flair to an already interesting story. It's fantastic when you consider how revolutionary this film is by combining Hollywood visual flair with the technique of German Expressionism. This film is almost timeless, and avoids slipping into sappy melodrama by keeping true to the characters. It's a sweet and heartbreaking story, the kind of romance that has real people, and not faces (a sad fact of today's Hollywood system).

In terms of the Best Picture Project and the year in which this was submitted, Sunrise is definitely deserving of it's win. The other two films, while good in their own right, do not come close to the technical perfection and sweet story of this film.