FW Murnau

F.W. Murnau was an artist with the camera producing some of the most visually stunning and complex silent films that rely deeply on expression.  With each film made he improved his technique culminating in his masterpiece ‘Sunrise’ that has carries the distinction among numerous film scholars as one of the greatest silent films of all time.  His style of delving into the emotions of his characters and have them emanate on the screen was a major innovation that has influenced many film directors.  One can only wonder how his sound films would have been if only he was not killed in the reckless automobile accident.  Though I would have greatly liked to see how he would have transitioned into the sound era I am thankful that he was able to produce such stunning pieces of art in short life.

            F.W. Murnau was an expressionist director whose films concentrated on making the passions and mindsets of his characters to be shown the screen.  This is most evident in his masterpiece ‘The Last Laugh’ where there was only one title card used in the entire film and it was only used to show that the author took pity on the title character and decided to give him a happy ending.  Murnau did not find it necessary to include dialogue cards because the facial expressions exemplified sufficed and allowed the film to flow freely.  Titles cards could have been shown on numerous occasions, especially when the title character’s neighbor discovered his new occupation and was spreading the news to everyone he knew but instead Murnau concentrated on the laughter and mockery of the woman which clued in to what she was saying.  Murnau was able to work the camera from only the title character’s perspective so that the audience can see the world through his eyes.  According to Roger Ebert, “He exaggerates the scale of the hotel and the city to emphasize how important it seems to the doorman; the opening shot, coming down in the elevator and tracking across the lobby peers out through revolving doors into the rain, showing elegant people and glittering surroundings.”  It would have been interesting to see how he would have combined his emotional expressionism in the sound era being that was able to accomplish creating a masterpiece without the dialogue backbone.

            ‘The Last Laugh’ was released in 1924 which was tumultuous time in Germany which was still reeling from the loss of World War I and suffering from great inflation.  The country was bankrupt from the numerous war reparations they had to pay back, in addition Wilhelm Marx’s government failed and parts of the country wanted to secede and form a new nation causing total chaos.  All of this suffering and lack of leadership let the guard down of the German citizens and allowed an oppressive dictator like Hitler to take over.  The prestigious doorman represented how Germany was before the World War I and his degradation to washroom attendant symbolized the fall from grace Germany was also feeling.  Someone who once was once looked up to underwent a metamorphosis into a mockery who did not receive the slightest amount of pity or respect.  Germany however did not have a happy ending and solution fixing miracle like it did for the doorman, they fell further into a depression culminating in losing World War II and their dignity for the atrocities they committed during it.

            ‘Nosferatu,’ an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ was a film that established F.W. Murnau as one of the premier expressionist directors.  This was accomplished by using close ups on the character’s faces so the audience can get better acquainted with them.  In the beginning of the film Hutter was established as innocent and vulnerable by Murnau honing in on his constant smiling and exultant demeanor.  His kindness resonates through the screen making the viewer associate him as someone pure but who can unknowingly find his way into trouble because of his attitude.  Count Orlok is first shown outside of his lair partially hiding his grotesque nature, however when he is in his familiar confines he reveals himself, having the audience member automatically associate him as the picture of evil.  Ellen was characterized as innocent but more capable than Hutter, her facial expressions exuded greater promise and potential to be the heroine, eventually leading up to her slaying Nosferatu.

            The year 1922 like the 1924 was a time of great unrest in Germany which was still struggling in the aftermath of World War I.  Gilberto Perez in his article in ‘Raritan’ shows how ‘Nosferatu’ reflected on the trying times, “a cinema of anxiety and gloom fabricated in the studio. F. W. Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu…was another response to the First World War: a response not to the insane authority that unleashed the war but to the death that ensued. Murnau’s film endures as one of the most resonant and unsettling responses that have been made in art to the death that inescapably awaits us.”  Death was on the minds of many Germans during this time period, World War I was the first war where the gruesome images of slain and wounded soldiers were seen by a mass audience through media outlets, though the public had a general sense of the horrific nature of war they did not realize the degree without the visuals.  I noticed that ‘Nosferatu’ carries an anxious tone that keeps the viewer guessing that evil may actually prevail, despite the happy endings that one is normally accustomed to.

              After seeing Murnau’s work, William Fox offered him a contract to bring his style of German expressionism to America.  During this time he made ‘Sunrise’ which many film historians believe was the pinnacle of the silent era’s short lived golden age.  According to Paula Marantz Cohen, “…has a saturated feel, as though it has realized the full extent of its medium and was waiting for something to shake it up.”  I agree that the film recognized the peak of its potential, however I disagree that it was waiting for something to shake it up, especially since Murnau made two additional stunning silent pictures after ‘Sunrise.’  The premise of the film was simplistic, yet carried an aura of complexity because of the lessons on human nature and love it portrayed.  Murnau used generic names such as; the man, the wife and the woman from the city, stripping them an identity because the situations exemplified in the film are uniform to people all around the world. 

            Murnau portrayed the wife who was masterfully played by Janet Gaynor as the picture of innocence, she unconditionally loved and trusted her husband, even agreeing to go on the boat ride he was proposing despite her sensing his fluctuating mood.  Like Hutter in ‘Nosferatu’ she did not need dialogue to establish her as the victim in the movie, instead she was aesthetically portrayed with a clean image with her eloquently combed hair and plain clothing.  Murnau also used music to establish character by using soft slow music when the wife is shown as opposed to quicker paced music with a panicked tone when the woman from the city is in the shot.  Murnau also set a mood of uneasiness with the couple’s dog when he the man was going to kill his wife.  According to Melinda Szaloky, “Murnau’s masterful buildup is almost unbearable, the pre-climatic tension preceding the death ride is achieved by virtue of a series of visualized sound effects…this episode has attracted much critical attention for its significance to the narrative and the stunning pictorial composition of the images.”  Once again, dialogue was not needed because Murnau achieved it through other mediums.

            1927 was a relatively quiet year in terms of major political events happening, the biggest news story was the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti who were deemed as anarchists under unfair circumstances.  I believe that ‘Sunrise’ was similar to the situation in America because it ended on a note of uncertainty.  Yes, the wife was saved from death, however she was going to remain married to a man who cheated on her and attempted to drown her.  Though the viewer is led to believe that the movie ends happily ever after, there must be a degree of awkwardness and uncertainty of living your life with someone who tried to murder you.  At the end of the movie like in 1927 there is calm, however a couple of years later America was immersed in the Great Depression and trying to survive in one most trying times history.  I doubt Murnau foresaw the Great Depression when making the film, however he knew that good times were not going to last forever with uncertainty in the future. 

            ‘City Girl’ was the second to last film F.W. Murnau made and I believe all the years of perfecting his craft culminated in this film.  The camera work is impeccable with a stunning distribution of long shots and close ups that delve up the character’s expressions and overall situation they are in.  Once again Murnau established an innocent character in Lem who is small time farmer’s son trying to find his way in Chicago.  He meets an equally innocent woman, in Kate who seems desperate to find love and get out of the city.  Murnau beautifully portrays Kate’s heartbreak when she believed that Lem has left her forever, he alternates between her pained expressions and the clock, setting up the joyous embrace they will share in the future.  The most stunning scene in the film is when Lem and Kate, now happily married running through the field of wheat embracing in their newfound love.  The camera is constantly moving, once again alternating between close ups and long shots that encompass both of them, even when they are standing still and kissing the camera remains in motion.  This film making technique makes the viewer believe that they in the scene because it does not wait for the characters, it allows them to act naturally.  This is evident at the end of the scene when Lem falls and Kate continues running, the camera does not change its motion continuing to follow Kate and not waiting for Lem.  According to Jo Leslie Collier, “Murnau’s camera does not simply follow alongside or behind or before the film’s characters; it prowls, it searches, it goes off on its own.”

            ‘City Girl’ was released in 1930 at the beginnings of the Great Depression which played a major role in the film.  Lem’s father is obsessed with money, threatening Lem that if he sells the wheat at lower than $1.15 he would not be able to make end’s meat, he also is so cheap that he does not allow the little child to play around with a single stalk of wheat because every piece is valuable.  The only reason Lem’s father objects to his marriage to Kate is that she is a waitress and believes she is only out to steal his money.  Murnau exemplifies the father’s dismay at her occupation that word waitress from the telegram grows so large that it encompasses the entire screen.

            It is extremely difficult to single out one of Murnau’s films to be the most significant because each one was so revolutionary and incredible.  I can choose ‘Nosferatu’ for the breakthroughs it made on German expressionism or ‘The Last Laugh’ for having the emotional and visual prowess to tell an entire story with only title card or ‘Sunrise’ for its stunning depiction of a dangerous love between a husband and wife or ‘City Girl’ for the incredible camerawork that was able to capture a plethora of moods and emotions in every scene.  Even though I enjoyed ‘City Girl’ the most out of the films I viewed, I believe that ‘Sunrise’ is the most significant.  Its simplicity gave it a universal feel that makes a profound effect on the viewer, the camera techniques and acting near perfection showing the progress that film has made since its creation.  It deals with a much more realistic and intense subject area than the other films and is a representation of the problems of man’s inner desires compromising love.

            F.W. Murnau was an incredible director whose work will have an everlasting appeal because of how well crafted they were and they deal with universal problems such as love, prestige, degradation, fear and innocence that are still prominent today and probably will be forever because of human nature.  Murnau was able to explore all these yearnings and present them as art on screen through premier camera work and expressionism.  Though Murnau died way too young, his vision remains because of the genius of his films.