City Girl (1930)

 F.W. Murnau's "City Girl"


F.W. Murnau's follow-up to "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans" was of equal tonal comparison. It centers on a couple who must overcome adversity in their relationship. The film also uses the couple symbolically to associate the differences between rural and urban. 

The film follows a farmer's son who is sent to the city to sell wheat. There, he meets a city girl, and the two fall in love. Whenever she arrives with the man back on his farm, she faces prejudice and misogyny from the people around her. 

It is important to note that Murnau portrays the city and country as being equally full of prejudice and misogyny. The lives of these two lovebirds must bend to the perception and expectations of others. Neither character is ever truly free in a sense. In order to be free, they must stand up to others.

The expressionism that Murnau was brought into Hollywood to create was not utilised in this film. There have been records indicating that Murnau's vision was not brought to furition by the studio. The film was even lost for a brief period of time. 






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