Probably the greatest director of the silent era, Murnau worked in many
genres in both Germany and America, but his films are united by their
stylistic brilliance and mood of romantic fatalism. He is best known
popularly for Nosferatu, the screen's first (and finest) adaptation
of Dracula; but his masterpiece, made in Hollywood, is Sunrise, a film
of extraordinary technical assurance and deep humanity. Noted for his
innovations with the moving camera, Murnau also displayed a precision
of composition, skill with actors and visual sophistication
unrivalled at the time and rarely equalled since. His premature death
remains one of cinema's most melancholy tragedies.
