Justifiably considered by many as one of the greatest films ever made (silent or otherwise), Sunrise (1927) is the highwater mark in the exceptional career of F.W. Murnau (which, in slightly less than a decade, included Nosferatu [1922], The Last Laugh [1924], Faust [1926] and Tabu [1931]). Not coincidentally, the film won the only award for "Most Unique and Artistic Production" at the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929 (essentially a tie for Best Picture with William Wellman's Wings).

The story, in its simplest sense, concerns the attraction of a city girl for a humble farmer and the tragedy, planned and unplanned, that results. But that's merely a framework for some of the most astonishing visual storytelling ever committed to celluloid, thanks largely to the remarkable achievements of co-cinematographers Charles Rosher and Karl Struss. This rare disc features the original Hugo Riesenfeld movietone score and a terrific newer composition by Timothy Brock, both with their own merits - and it's worth watching the film several times with either soundtrack. The disc also includes a reconstruction of Murnau's fabled lost film Four Devils, made the following year, and a handful of outtakes from the filming of Sunrise. -- Jonathan Marlow.

For more on Murnau, see our primer on German Expressionism. Or see more Eclection selections...