Faust & Late Period Murnau

At the height of his career in Germany, F.W. Murnau (director of the horror classic Nosferatu) sought to create a film that would utilize only the art of cinema. The result is The Last Laugh, a film shot on carefully constructed soundstages using the "unchained cinema" technique of director of photography Karl Freund which employs flawless, gliding camera motion of a type that movies would not see again for decades after the introduction of sound. With no dialogue or narration intertitles save one, The Last Laugh communicates its story entirely through the visual language of film. Emil Jannings, one of the top actors of German silent cinema, portrays an elderly hotel doorman who is sacked from his job and subsequently finds his entire life falls apart. A tragic story of Weimar-era Germany that serves as a testament to the storytelling power of movies.

Written by Ben Rowe.

Following the financial failure of his Faust, Murnau came to Hollywood where he had been invited by William Fox to make an Expressionist style film in America. Murnau chose to collaborate with Carl Mayer, who had written The Last Laugh three years earlier, to create a humanist fable about a young couple from the country who lose each other in the confusion and sin of the big city, before coming back together again. Sunrise features cinematography from Karl Struss which not only utilizes Murnau's unchained cinema style, but also features gorgeous special effects shots using amazing sets built for the production. The poetic story garnered incredible praise at the time and won several awards at the very first Academy Awards including "Best Unique and Artistic Picture" and "Best Cinematography." Coming at the dawn of the sound era, the film features music and sound effects, but no dialogue and few title cards.

Written by Ben Rowe.

The final film of F.W. Murnau, Tabu exists in a context with several other "Polynesian paradise" films of the 1920s such as Moana (1926) by Robert Flaherty and White Shadows in the South Seas (1928) by W.S. Van Dyke, both of which filmed on location in Tahiti.

Flaherty is the "father of the documentary" thanks to his early works of what is now considered "docufiction" such as Nanook of the North (1922) and he partnered with Murnau for this new picture, which has a more explicitly dramatic tone but was still shot on location in Tahiti with native Tahitian performers in the roles. The beautiful cinematography of Floyd Crosby won a second Academy Award for both a Murnau film and a Tahitian-shot film. Taking the form of a classic love story, Tabu was praised by critics and a hit with audiences at the time, but suffers from "noble savage" stereotypes prevalent at the time. Nevertheless, its gorgeous visuals and timeless story make it a fitting end to Murnau's career, as he passed away in a tragic car accident soon after the film's release. 

Written by Ben Rowe.