Released in 1927, the last year of silent film, it's a pinnacle of that lost art.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
13 Feb 2007
fresh:
In its artistry, dramatic power and graphic suggestion it goes a long way toward realizing the promise of this foreign director in his former works, notably Faust.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
20 Feb 2008
fresh:
F.W. Murnau's career-peak nova, the crowning film from that sacred, edge-of-the-abyss year of 1927.
– Michael Atkinson,
Village Voice,
31 Mar 2010
fresh:
For his Hollywood debut, in 1927, the German director F. W. Murnau brought a slender story to life with a breathtaking display of cinematic virtuosity, creating one of the masterworks of the art form.
– Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
25 Feb 2014
fresh:
Rich, strange and gorgeous, F.W. Murnau's Sunrise shows what an artist of the late silent era could accomplish cinematically, backed by an open checkbook and fueled by the highest aspirations even in the simplest of morality tales.