Best silent ever? - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) Discussion

[–] 18 years ago

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Eisenstein's films and Sjöström's. And Chaplin.

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[–] thao 18 years ago

You think all of them are better than Sunrise or Passion of Joan of Arc?

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[–] DrMulholland 18 years ago

Isn't Battleship Potemkin also considered very high among the silents? However I don't think that one is better than Sunrise. It's a truly outstanding film which I can't wait to re-watch.

Here in Denmark I think Carl Th. Dreyer is more connected with Ordet (not silent) and Du skal ære din hustru than Joan of Arc...

Did you know that:
Tulse Luper thought Joan of Arc was Noah's wife.
- Peter Greenaway

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] thao 18 years ago

Excellent point girllib. I my self am guilty of concentrating heavily on camera angles... But you are so right.

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[–] DrMulholland 17 years ago

I think the most "iconic" silent film is Modern Times - or maybe The Kid, at least something Chaplin. A lot of people connects him with the silent era.

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[–] marbleann 17 years ago

I love silent movies. They are really just what a person likes and how many silents a person has seen. Yes I like the Potemkin's and Sunrise is one of my favorites. But Lon Chaney has 2 movies which I like better.
The Penalty, a movie about vengence, that scared me to death.

The Ace of Hearts. The title sounded like it was some romantic comedy but it turned out to be something a whole lot different and shocking for the time it was made. Lon Chaney made a few more movies that would go on the list. I think people need to see more of his movies other then the real popular ones ala Phantom of the Opera because this man was something special. And his movies are lot more interesting then anythg that is being made today.

And lastly but not least
Within our Gates a Oscar Micheux movie which gives a stunning view of African Americans in the early part of the 20th Century. Scenes of lynching was not something I prepared for. But it was not just about that. It was more about the striking differences between life in the north and life in the south for Black people during the great migration up north. It has to be one of my favorites.. Those 3 movies IMO are just as good and better then the Potemkin's and the Joan's.

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[–] thao 17 years ago

I did not like the ending of The Penalty, but everything up to that was perfect, and while I really liked The Ace of Hearts I thought The Unknown was much better. I have not seen Within our Gates. Thank you for the tip.

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[–] marbleann 17 years ago

Yes the Unknown was the other one I was talking about. Alonzo the Armless, not in the beginning of the movie, lol. What a strange movie.

The penalty yes the ending was off but I believe the americanize ending of Sunrise was a let down for me, even though it is agreat movie. But I think I like the Penalty because of the many facets of the story, he being involved in some type of mafia, and his obssessive nature was just too scary. The scences of him going behing the fireplace to get to his underworld was stunning. But yes the ending came out of nowhere. I would rate the Ace of Hearts higher too.
Body and Soul was another great movie it was Paul Robson debut

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[–] sr_wolfrider 17 years ago

Sunrise is certainly a candidate. Chaplins non talkies were great, if light weight.

Last film seen: Robert Bresson's Pickpocket - Brilliant!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053168/

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[–] omenous21 17 years ago

I haven't seen the Penalty or Ace of Hearts...

I cherish/value my Sunrise DVD more than any other DVD I own. Yet... I have only seen Sunrise once. It is by far my favorite silent film of the few that I have/have seen.

I do hear a lot of praise for Battleship Potelikin(spelling??) But I didn't think it was as good as the praise it gets. I much prefer Metropolis, The General, or Gold Rush to the Battleship film...

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[–] thao 17 years ago

Try Passion of Joan of Arc.

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[–] jem132 17 years ago

For me the best silent ever is, of course, SUNRISE. However, CITY LIGHTS is very, very close.

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[–] theosh 17 years ago

Totally agree! Sunrise is also my favourite, with City Lights an extremely close second!!
I'm also a huge fan of Nosferatu, and mark down another vote for The Unknown. Great Films!
I wish the Turner Classic Movies we get here in Australia, had those Silent Sundays that you guys in the US get. You are so lucky, as so much great stuff has been played. Over here, it is so rare for a silent film to be played on TCM.

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[–] Joe-280 17 years ago

Well, quite literally, without any exception - SUNRISE is the best! No other film is so emotionally involving without 'tech overpowering' aspects. No other film is so well 'tech integrated' than The Song of Two Humans.

Needless to say, I am firmly entrenched into the SUNRISE camp. Have lectured on it over three decades at various fesitvals and museums and used it whenever I teach a film class/course. As a matter of fact, about 2 or so years ago, a former Jr. High student of mine (from mid 70s)contacted me and during our 'remembrance' talk, he mentioned, "Remember that old silent movie you showed us about the girl in the boat and the amusement park? Well, I often think about it and wish I could get it to show to my wife. What is its name?"

Well, as anyone can guess, I immediately told him and wished him and his wife a great deal of joy in seeing it, if available at his video store. If nothing else, as soon as I finish this, i am going to e-mail him to find out if they ever did watch it or should I track down a copy for them? :-D

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[–] thao 17 years ago

Thank you for this post Joe-280! Nice to hear a life experience like this, really nice! By the way, where did you get a copy of the film in the mid 70s to show to your students?

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[–] mojo2004 17 years ago

The Fox Movie Channel showed this film this morning and I caught it by accident.First I was surprised that they were showing a silent film.I also was surprised at how I couldn't stop watching this film.The attention to detail and the emotion the couple was able to convey made me watch this as if I were watching the latest special effects laden blockbuster.Too bad the films being made now aren't the least bit as interesting.This was a wonderful eperience.

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[–] rainbird131162 17 years ago

It's the best silent film I've seen. Mesmerizing from the first frame to the last.

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[–] Guy-Montag 17 years ago

I'm going to say "Passion of Joan of Arc" is the greatest silent film of all-time, not to mention a strong contender for one of the greatest films ever made, period.

Metropolis comes in close second.

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[–] IsoldeJaneHolland 17 years ago

mojo2004 (Mon Jul 16 2007
The Fox Movie Channel showed this film this morning and I caught it by accident.First I was surprised that they were showing a silent film.I also was surprised at how I couldn't stop watching this film.The attention to detail and the emotion the couple was able to convey made me watch this as if I were watching the latest special effects laden blockbuster.Too bad the films being made now aren't the least bit as interesting.This was a wonderful eperience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched it too, mojo24, despite the fact that I have it taped on VHS
(somewhere!). I agree with what earlier posters said about LOn Chaney,
but I simply have to mention Buster Keaton too. Most film buffs will
cite The General but I have a great fondness for Our Hospitality, a
gentle southern story about two feuding families in the antebellum south.
Gorgeously filmed by Eugene Lessey; looks like it was shot yesterday.

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[–] icet2004 17 years ago

Napoleon(1927)

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[–] moviesceleton 17 years ago

I can't claim that I've seen many silent films but one of my favorites is D.W. Griffith's "Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl". I think it's overshadowed by Griffith's epics (which I haven't seen). And of course Chaplin is always great.

"Raid" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229924/), Tapio Piirainen's Finnish masterpiece

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[–] ccewilliams 17 years ago

Chaplin, Keaton and Harold Lloyd are amazing. To me my favorites are Speedy (1928), The Navigator (1924) and City Lights (1931). I am searching for Sunrise and was hoping if anyone could tell if it was online to watch somewhere? My absolute favorite silent film (and I'm surprised no one has mentioned it) is Greed from 1924. The Restoration is amazing and the story is so true it hurts. I was stunned when I first saw it and it is just amazing. Other contendors are Passion of Joan of Arc, Nosferatu, Chaplin's films, Keaton's, and Lloyd's and of course Metropolis(Come to think of it Lang is amazing.)!!!!!!!!!!!!

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] naillon-2 17 years ago

In addition to Sunrise, my favorite silent films are:

Sherlock, Jr.
Intolerance
Girl Shy
Way Down East
The Lodger
Seven Chances
College

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[–] washburn23 17 years ago

Yeah, that's where I originally saw Sunrise, on YouTube! It was off-putting watching it like that but I liked it so much I ordered the dvd straight after viewing it. There's actually a lot of great silents on YouTube and Google video: the Passion of Joan of Arc, Die Nibelungen, Nosferatu...

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[–] azzzz_kikr 17 years ago

I'm sure this has been said before, but if we're being pedantic, Sunrise isn't technically a silent film. It is actually on of the first films WITH synchronised sound. Don Juan was the first I believe, with this following up the next year. Although it is not a 'talkie', most motion pictures up until Sunrise had live musical accompaniments, whereas in this film, the sound played along with it. I'm fairly sure it was a method known as 'sound-on-film', where a part of film strip was reserved for sound which would then be recorded onto to save synching problems. However, there were obvious problems with amplification.

The first synchronised sound film with dialogue was The Jazz Singer, with the first words ever to be spoken on screen being, "wait a minute, wait a minute. you ain't heard nothing yet" by Al Johnson. But Sunrise pre-dates this. I'm actually glad that Sunrise didn't utilise the upcoming dialogue technology, as I don't think the operatic style would've translated to a talkie.

Still, if we're not being pedantic then it doesn't matter.

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[–] PhantomoftheIMDB 17 years ago

and egregiously incorrect. Listen to the Kissing in Traffic scene and you will hear dialogue amid all the sound of effects. A voice defintely says "Get out of here!"

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[–] liquidmuzic 17 years ago

I understand your point but personally I'd define a 'silent' as being originally filmed with no audio. Although sound was added afterwards it is still originally a silent movie.
It's a great film though either way!

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[–] stephen-morton 14 years ago

@PhantomoftheIMDB: But these words, while on the soundtrack, are not spoken by an actual character. The Jazz Singer had the first words spoken onscreen that were synchronized with an actors lips to be clear who was speaking it.

As to the OP, I've only seen about a dozen silent films and have yet to see The Passion of Joan of Arc (or Metropolis, or Intolerance, etc.), but I would definitely put Sunrise as the greatest silent film I've seen so far, and I would guess that it's unlikely to be eclipsed anytime soon. Sunrise is easily one of the greatest films ever made, and IMO a contender for title of Greatest of All Time. It deserves to venerated the way Hamlet and Mozart are venerated.

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[–] Boisansoif 17 years ago

Sunrise is one of my favorites silent movie (If not my favorite).

Some of my favorites :

Intolerance
City Lights
La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc
Metropolis
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Unknown
Nosferatu
Wings
The Phantom of the Opera
Broken Blossoms
Bronenosets Potyomkin
Modern Times
Pandora’s Box
Napoleon
...

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Don_Farshido 16 years ago

There is no better silent film than Sunrise since there's no better film.
But I can think of three equals: "The General", "City Lights" and "Modern Times". One has to watch "The General" and other works of Keaton several times to see what incredible works of art they are, and "The General" is truly music in images.
And Chaplin is in my estimation, even if all his stupid bashers will never realize that (they just don't deserve his films), the most subtle of the silent filmmakers.

I'm sure that Joan of Arc is up there too since I'm a Dreyer fanatic because of his last four films, but I can't see it because it's simply nowhere available in germany. And when Dreyer is not available, you certainly can't count on guys like Sjostrom being available here.
Many other guys, like Eisenstein or Griffith or Lang, certainly made some important stuff but I simply can't engage with their works the way I do with Keaton, Chaplin and Murnau (With Eisenstein and Lang, more with their sound films). I watch "City Lights" or "Sunrise" with the least amount of "historical" interest possible.

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[–] thao 16 years ago

You need to get a region free DVD player!!! And as to Sjöström, some of his films are now available in Europe (you can order them on the net).

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