STUDIES IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

Portrait of a cinematographer (VII) – Charles Rosher and Karl Struss

In the seventh part of the series Portrait of a cinematographer the author writes about Charles Rosher and Karl Struss, the two cinematographers on the film Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1927) for which they received the first Academy Award for Best Cinematography ever. Although Rosher’s name was listed in larger font size in the credits, Struss played a very important role in film photography, especially on those parts he shot while Rosher was ill, which display a particular style recognizable in his earlier films as well. However, in the film Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans, and due to the director Murnau whose predominantly visual style is also evident in his other films (Nosferatu, Faust, The Last Laugh, Tabu), we are rather dealing with the director’s visual concept and influence on cinematographers. The author examines the influence of the expressionist style, combination with studio cinematography typical of Hollywood, while simultaneously exploring the key question: What is realism in film photography, especially in relation to light? For the purpose of dissecting the film, he introduces the term logic of darkness. Recognizing the overall photography mastership in the film Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans, the author considers that the film can hardly be characterized by a single visual style.

Krešimir Mikić