F.w. murnau best films
- •
F.W. Murnau was born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe in the German town of Bielefeld on December 28, 1888. He spent his formative years in theater, striking up a working relationship with the luminary director Max Reinhardt. Plumpe would assume the name F.W. Murnau upon his first appearance in one of Reinhardt's plays, acting in the 1909 production of "Das Mirakel." His work with Reinhardt would lead to something of an apprenticeship, with the young Murnau taking up an assistant director position.
That theatre career was interrupted by World War I, when Murnau joined the German Air Force and cheated death over and over when his plane crash landed on seven separate occasions. His final crash landing put him in neutral Switzerland, where he was taken out of commission as a fighter but allowed to join with local theatre productions. The Swiss also allowed Murnau to film war-time propaganda for the German government, making Murnau realize that film directing was his destiny.
As such, his feature film directing career began just after the end of World War I, when he made 12 films from the y
- •
People active in the silent era and people who keep the silent era alive. Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved. |
| Photograph: Silent Era image collection. |
F.W. Murnau
Born 28 December 1888 in Bielefeld, Germany, as Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe.
Died 11 March 1931 near Carmel, California, USA, of injuries sustained in an auto accident.
F.W. Murnau’s contribution to cinema cannot be overstated. In a film career that lasted little more than a decade, Murnau performed early yeoman service to evolve quickly into an intelligent and groundbreaking cinema master. Among his best-known and most-influential films are Nosferatu (1922), Phantom (1922), Der letzte Mann (1924), Tartüff (1926), Faust (1926), Sunrise (1927), Our Daily Bread [City Girl] (1929) and Tabu (1931).
- •
F.W. Murnau, His Films, and Their Influence on German Expressionism
F.W. Murnau had a diverse and artistic upbringing, and led an international lifestyle as an adult. His experiences, interests, and education naturally had a profound effect on the way he viewed the world and expressed himself artistically. Writing for Cahiers du Cinema, Edgar G. Ulmer noted Murnau’s cosmopolitan outlook and knowledge of French and praised him as a uniquely cultured filmmaker.
This essay is focused on the work of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, whom I consider to be one of the first auteur filmmakers in world cinema. This statement is based on an analysis of the state of cinema before Murnau and consequently his impact on the medium, the historical, artistic, and social factors that influenced his own work and vision, their reflection in his films, and the techniques, ideas, innovations, signature characteristics, and aesthetic choices that shaped his body of work. The style and content of his work were enormously affected by his upbringing and the influences that he met wit
Copyright ©yambump.pages.dev 2025