City Girl Review: I actually liked this more than Sunrise

You should absolutely watch City Girl if you like stories that feel real even when they are almost a hundred years old.

If you hate silent movies or get bored watching people look at fields of grain, you will probably want to skip this one. 🌾

The movie starts in Chicago and it is so loud, even though there is no sound. You see the crowds and the traffic and you just feel the stress.

Mary Duncan plays Kate, a waitress at a busy lunch counter. She looks absolutely exhausted.

There is this one moment where she is just staring at a little mechanical bird in a cage. It is a toy, but she looks at it like it is the most beautiful thing in the world.

It is a small, sad detail that tells you everything about her life. She just wants something that isn't made of concrete and grease.

Then she meets Lem. Charles Farrell plays him like a giant, sweet puppy who doesn't know how the world works.

He is a farmer in the city to sell his family's wheat. They fall in love basically instantly.

Usually, I hate when movies do that. But here, it feels like two drowning people grabbing onto each other. It makes sense.

They get married and take the train back to his farm. The train scenes are actually really sweet.

They look so happy. Too happy. You just know something bad is coming.

The movie shifts once they get to Minnesota. The city is gone and now it is just endless fields of wheat.

F.W. Murnau, the director, was obsessed with how the wind looks in the wheat. It moves like water.

It is way more beautiful than any CGI I have seen lately. You can almost feel the breeze on your face.

But then we meet the Dad. Oh boy.

Lem’s father is the ultimate hater. He is played by David Torrence and he is terrifying.

He thinks Kate is just a 'city girl' who married his son to steal their money. He doesn't even give her a chance.

The way he looks at her is so cold. He treats her like she is dirt he tracked in from the field.

There is a scene where the family is eating dinner and the tension is so thick you could cut it with a tractor blade.

The father is just waiting for her to mess up. It reminded me of the drama in The Wife He Bought, but much more intense.

The worst part is Lem. He is so scared of his dad that he doesn't stand up for his new wife.

It is so frustrating to watch! You want to reach into the screen and shake him.

Kate is trying so hard to be a good farm wife. She is out there in the heat, trying to help with the harvest.

There is a bunch of men who come to help with the wheat, and they are all creeps. They keep staring at her.

One of them, Mac, is played by Ed Brady and he is just oily. You can tell he’s up to no good from the second he shows up.

The movie feels very sweaty. Everyone is covered in dust and hay.

It is not a glamorous version of farm life. It looks like hard, miserable work.

I noticed that the lighting changes a lot. In the city, it was bright and flashy.

On the farm, especially at night, the shadows are huge. It feels like a horror movie sometimes.

The father eventually hits Kate. It’s a real shock when it happens.

The movie takes a turn into a big storm sequence. There is fire and wind and everything going wrong at once.

It is very dramatic. Maybe a little too much? But it works because you’re so invested by then.

I liked this more than Murnau's more famous movie, Sunrise. It feels more grounded.

It isn't trying to be a poem. It’s just a story about a girl who wanted a better life and ended up in a nightmare.

Mary Duncan’s face is the best thing in the whole movie. She can say more with her eyes than most actors can with a ten-minute monologue.

The ending feels a little bit rushed. Like someone told them they had to finish the movie in five minutes.

Everything gets resolved a bit too quickly for my taste. But I guess that’s how movies were back then.

If you have some time on a Sunday, put this on. It’s better than 90% of what is on Netflix right now.

It’s a shame Mary Duncan didn’t make more movies like this. She was something special.

Also, the little sister character is great. She’s the only one who is actually nice to Kate.

Watch it for the wheat. Stay for the family drama. 🌾🚜