'Sunrise' semester, and/or, Dave Kehr, King of the Hipsters

"Hope Glenn Kenny gets a hold of this," Keith Uhlich writes over at The House Next Door's Links For The Day, apropos Oscar-watch-dude Tom O'Neil's, shall we say, contrarian perspective on F.W. Murnau's Sunrise. Apparently O'Neil can't get on the bus with certain "Oscar Nazis" (there's a phrase that ought not be dwelt upon, not to mention even ever uttered) who "insist that we should fight for Sunrise to get its due and reverse the common misconception that the lowly Wings was the first best picture winner," because, by O'Neil's light, Sunrise is "paper thin, hilariously schmaltzy" and its "three primary characters are cartoonish clichés and their performances 3-inch slices of honeyed ham."

Janet Gaynor and George O'Brien in Murnau's Sunrise

Now I'm flattered that Keith thinks I'm the go-to guy when an ignorant, vulgar, hubristic critic is in need of an evisceration. But I'm afraid I can't help him here, because, truth to tell, I think O'Neil's kind of got a point.

PSYCH!!

Almost had you there, didn't I?

It's kind of difficult to know where to begin here, and frankly the discussion in the comments at O'Neil's L.A. Times website is getting quite a bit of my job done for me. Honestly, my first thought was about O'Neil's description of the performances—the performances by the characters, apparently, if we are to take his hobbled sentence at face value—as "3-inch slices of honeyed ham." Believe it or not, there are still quite a few good George O'Brien men among the living; I know one or two, and it made me shiver a bit to imagine Tom O'Neil delivering his verdict on Sunrise's acting to any of their faces.

But what's most fascinating about the thing is not O'Neil's critical analysis—there isn't any—but the way that Sunrise has gotten him twisted up in such a bizarre knot, particularly with respect to his relation to other film writers, or rather, the "snobs" and "hipsters" and, oh boy, "Nazis." Not only did O'Neil not much care for Sunrise when he recently watched it, he apparently hated it with a force beyond all rational sense. Note his caption for a still from the film: "Oh, Janet Gaynor is so happy when he takes her on a date in a rowboat! But then, curses! He lunges at her throat with trembling arms!"

Back there when I said O'Neil kind of has a point? The weird thing is, he kind of does, in spite of himself. The melodrama of Sunrise—like that, say, of Borzage's Seventh Heaven—is pitched at an emotional temperature that is difficult for those professing to be of a contemporary sensibility to, ahem, "relate" to. One needn't be as staggering a philistine as O'Neil to admit that the content of Sunrise contains some qualities that are anachronistic, even quaint. But to O'Neil the content of Sunrise is all there is, and it drives him to unrelenting, out-of-proportion mockery...even though he's "the kinda guy who'd normally side with the weepie. On my top 10 list of fave pix of all time are Peggy Sue Got Married and Titanic."

You know, Titanic happens to have quite a bit more in common with Sunrise than a lot of people would be willing to admit. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. What's incredible is the way the savagery of O'Neil's loathing of Sunrise segues into his tetchy, faux-blithe defensiveness over Peggy Sue Got Married and Titanic. It doesn't take much to figure out that O'Neil's rant isn't against Sunrise at all, but is rather just a festering hairball built up from God-knows-how-many years of resentment against...yep, all those film snobs, hipsters, and, ugh, Nazis WHO HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FORCE TRIPE LIKE SUNRISE DOWN TOM O'NEIL'S THROAT ALL HIS LIFE AND HE'S NOT GONNA HAVE IT ANYMORE!!!!

In the comments, stalwart Kent Jones tries some sweet reason in defense of a response to film that is "thought out and carefully considered," but O'Neil isn't having it. He just doesn't like Sunrise, damnit, and nobody's gonna make him take it back.

"What do I really know about film?" O'Neil asks, to no one in particular. "Not only does the L. A. Times hire me to dish about it, other media outlets showcase my views, too. Tune in to Fox Business Network this Friday morning and to CBS this Saturday morning to see me sound off on current releases. On Sunday I'll probably be on CNN -- don't know exactly what time of day yet. Might be on MSNBC early Sunday -- often I do that time slot. All this is just a small sampling of typical media that I do. Many outlets disagree with my views on this-or-that, but they seem to appreciate my honesty, basic knowledge and insights..."

Holy shit man, this is Max Fischer's "I wrote a hit play!" writ way too large. And consider: O'Neil is an adult. Or maybe this is more of "So I think my insights into Mr. McLuhan, well, have a great deal of validity."

And yet, in spite of Mr. O'Neil's incredible media star status, he is beset by would-be assassins! No really! "So I happen to think Sunrise is overrated. Big deal. Get over it. I also happen to think that Grand Illusion is, too. Can you resist the urge to assassinate me?"

I dunno Tom, you just rubbed my face in the fact that you're such a fucking big deal, and now you're shrugging your shoulders after having thrown down a gauntlet, and making one more idiotic pronouncement as the cherry on top. You think after that anyone's gonna feel like giving you a hug?

On the other hand, you seem like you need one.

P.S. I have to tell you how much I love the formulation of the "film hipster" and how glad I am it's getting play. I don't wanna pick on Jeff Wells, but last week he was giving Adrien Brody a career Rx, and tut-tutting him for making a picture with Dario Argento. Quoth Jeff: "Argento is highly regarded in dweeby, hipper-than-thou, Dave Kehr-like circles..."

Yeah—that's exactly it. Dave Kehr, King of the Hipsters. Of a Saturday evening, me, him, Kent Jones and maybe Nathan Lee if he and I are speaking that week, like to kick a little Ernie Gehr at Anthology and then repair to 7B for a few Rocks. After dropping Nathan off at The Cock, we then catch the L train to Bedford and head to the Music Hall of Williamsburg, where we're apt to check out Black Dice while swilling a few PBRs. Then it's off to Union Pool for a nightcap.

Yeah, that's exactly it.

P.P.S. Damn, foiled again—My Lovely Wife tells me that The Cock has closed. Hey, wait a minute, how would she know, anyway...

Comments

[Keith Uhlich]

Well "The Cock" moved in '05 to a new 2nd Avenue location formerly occupied by "The Hole". Last I saw, it was still open for business.

Hey, wait a minute, how would I know, anyway...

:-)

[Chuck]

The article and the even worse responses (from the author I mean) exhibit a boneheadedness that's almost impossible to believe. It's satire right Glenn? Huh, satire? In that case I get it.

[Bleeb]

Can't we kill him?

[Glenn Kenny]

No, Bleeb, we can't. And, in any case, O'Neil's preferred term is "assassinate."

[Herman Scobie]

"And consider: O'Neil is an adult." You're wrong, Glenn. We find ourselves in a society in which most of those in their 20s and 30s and some even older do their best to remain adolescents. This is the same society that thinks all opinions are equal, that no one has to back up views about anything. Faced with this rampant mediocrity, I have been forced to become a bitter old fart.

[bill]

Herman, I agree with most of what you just said, except this:

"This is the same society that thinks all opinions are equal..."

I deal with a lot of people in the age group you're referring to (and, in fact, AM in that general age group), and the idea that a differing opinion should be met with anything other than condescension and hostility is alien to most of them. Which is not to say that I believe all opinions are created equal, but simply that I haven't encountered the kind of ecumenical worldview that you apparently have.

[Sam Adams]

Someone should tell homeboy that if you're going to complain about a movie being cliched, then you'd better not drag out the old "thick slick of ham" chestnut, not matter how many adjectives you dress it up with. For shame.

[bill]

Tom O'Neil begins one of his sentences this way:

"As a self-respecting Oscarologist..."

Is there such a thing?

[Todd Holmes]

As one of those who can take the blame (credit?) for inflaming some of O'Neil's Oscar-nazi-hating in the comments there, the response I found most interesting is when I suggested that a real journalist might have done his homework to understand why Sunrise is admired (e.g. not because of the melodrama). His reply: "I don't need to do research on why "Sunrise" is so highly regarded. I know that point of view and happen to disagree with it strongly." Of course my point was that it's not a point-of-view that Murnau broke new ground. It's a bit like saying "I know the point of view that 'The Jazz Singer' introduced sound films to the masses. I just happen to disagree."

But perhaps what I find most troubling is that people like O'Neil are the ones keeping their jobs during the great critic downsizing of '08. This article is certainly exhibit A for the argument that film criticism (at least at major US newspapers) is becoming an endangered species.

[Glenn Kenny]

Indeed, Todd, and that's also why, although I make light of them, tags like "snob," "elitist" and "hipster" rankle: gainfully employed clods like O'Niel use those terms as cudgels to discredit anyone doing more thoughtful work than they do. People sometimes ask me why I have a bug up my ass about David Kamp and Lawrence Levi's "Film Snob Handbook"; well, what you're talking about is exactly why. It's called the Law of Unintended Consequences. Thanks a pantload, guys.

[Aaron Hillis]

Funny, I called Tom O'Neil the other day, at it got heated. "Look, freak," I screamed at him, "Sunrise is Sunrise... WINGS IS WINGS!"

[Brian]

Actually, is there anything more "hipster" than saying "I know that point of view and happen to disagree with it strongly"? It seems to me the "hipster" POV is precisely this disengaged, too-cool-for-the-room, I know everything attitude, one which might actually hate SUNRISE precisely because it forces an emotional engagement and a passion they just can't comprehend.

You know, Titanic happens to have quite a bit more in common with Sunrise than a lot of people would be willing to admit.

Absolutely! And so might something like Lord of the Rings, whose journey-from-country-to-city (well, bigger populated area, anyway), narrative centered on a couple (Sam and Frodo), Expressionist imagery and fearlessly over-the-top emotions are all sheer melodrama, even if we don't want to call it that because it makes folks feel uncool and challenges their guyish geek cred.

One point of disagreement-- I'm 34, and I love Sunrise, and Wings. And as many baby boomers constantly remind us through their behavior, it's not just people in their 20s and 30s who hate to have their firmly set viewpoints challenged.

[Krauthammer]

I'm a relatively young cinephile (18), but Sunrise had, and still does, have immediate power to me. I remember watching Sunrise two or three years ago,when all I knew about it was that it was in this not-well-compiled list of bests that I bought for ten dollers, I had no expectations and it still struck me. Hard.

It was my introduction to classic expressionism, grand emotion and Murnau. I feel like it's one of MY movies, a movie I feel immediate emotional and personal attachment to. And after four viewings, it still makes me cry every time.

In short: Screw Tom O'Neil.

[msic]

You could do a lot worse on a Saturday night than hitting a little Gehr. "Side / Walk / Shuttle," baby. Thing is, Ern's so money, and he doesn't even know it.

[D Cairns]

I posted a comment over at that site but it hasn't appeared. Basically I was arguing that if the guy hadn't seen Sunruse until right now, no way had he seen The Last Command and Seventh Heaven, yet he was happy to declare The Jazz Singer superior to them. I went on to say that nothing in his piece convinces me that he's even watched Wings. If he has, then his inability to offer a single specific personal observation about it is pretty bad, as is his failure to notice that it, too, is a weepie.

[Damien B.]

I wonder if Tom O'Neil might prefer Murnau's 'City Girl' to 'Sunrise.' There the urban woman is actually the moral and upstanding character, the country folks bastions of venality. Nah, Blather Boy seems inherently incapable of appreciating Murnau. (And he must be the only person I've ever heard of who doesn't like 'Grand Illusion' -- he must really hate 'Rules of the Game' then. But he often does early Sunday mornings on MSNBC so I guess he is someone to be reckoned with.)

[Campaspe]

I am so glad I learned of this only through your magnificent, comprehensive take-down. If I'd read Mr. O'Neil's "critique" first thing I would still be lying on the couch in a darkened room with a cold cloth on my forehead. This is about the most righteously angry I have seen you, but the thing is, the piece is so much worse than you paint it. It isn't that I think it's impermissible for a serious film critic to hate "Sunrise." A serious critic may hate anything s/he wants, but if attacking a canonical film that critic had better be prepared with good reasons. A few stale witticisms (honeyed ham--gah!) may be sufficient to dismiss "Crash" but with "Sunrise" you'd damn well better bring more to the firing range than a pea shooter. That's really all I was saying when I got irritated by the Oscar joke at the film's expense.

[Glenn Kenny]

I'm not done with O'Neil yet. Those so inclined should watch for my next Monday Morning Foreign Region DVD Report...

[Dan]

Anybody using the word "hipsters" and "Sunrise" in the same sentence just revealed they don't know anything. I'm 26, I'm in film school (graduate level), I know "film hipsters". And I hate the f***ing lot of them precisely because it isn't associated with some intellectual movement that knowing about makes them seem all smart and s**t or made after January 1st, 1970, it doesn't exist.

[Ross]

Whoa, Dan, be sure to take a basic writing course before you graduate. That last sentence (well, it's not really a sentence; let's call it that last burst of words between the periods)... yikes.

[Glenn Kenny]

Ah, let Dan be. It's that youthful passion gettin' all up in his expository prose skills...

[PM]

Hm. I'm not sure precisely what Dan means to say, but it is true that even graduate students in film studies -- the most hipsterish of film hipsters, one would expect -- don't have much sympathy for Sunrise or most mainstream, silent-era films. The films aren't sufficiently knowing and dedicated to taking down, uh, capitalism or something. I think the Sunrise love comes from the old school cinephile aesthetes. If you're going to make Dave Kehr King, I reckon that'd be his realm...

[michaelgsmith]

If this whole Sunrise-gate controversy can hasten the release of the rumored "Murnau at Fox" box set, it will have all been worth it. (BTW, I'm 32, I love Sunrise and I like Wings pretty well.)