Golden Hour

THE SYMBOLISM OF SUNRISES AND SUNSETS IN FILM

Written by Kylie Hynes, Contributing Writer Photographed by Jessica Tenenbaum, Honorary Art Director and Staff Graphic Artist

One of the most photographed natural phenomena in the world, sunrises and sunsets have a majestic, awe-inspiring quality that never fails to both capture our attention and leave us reaching for our cameras. But what exactly is it about the rising and setting of the sun that’s so enchanting? Is it the colors or the sound of the waves reflecting beneath them? Is it the contentment that comes from a day well spent or the hope of a new and better one? Is it the peace of solitude or the warm glow on the face of the person beside you? Don’t blink or you’ll miss it. Take a photo before it fades. Remember how it feels.

There’s little that films do better than capture moments like these. Name your favorite movie, and no matter the genre, I’d bet there’s a sunset in there somewhere. After Rose finally concluded she was in love with Jack in “Titanic”? Sunset. After the Breakfast Club went their separate ways? Sunset. After the Narnians defeated the White Witch? Sunset. I could go on and on.

Shown most iconically at the end of films before the screen fades to black and the credits start to roll, sunrises or sunsets set the screen aglow in a beacon of color and light. Meanwhile, we watch the characters ride off into the distance, contemplate the future, embrace sweetly, part ways or relish a hard-won victory. Tragedy struck, love conquered and change was on the horizon.

Symbolic of birth, growth, resurrection and creation, sunrises represent all kinds of new beginnings for characters in films.1 It’s at dawn that armies march and ships set sail, that duels are fought and that characters rise to contemplate the events of the day ahead. As the sun rises in swaths of orange, red and yellow, we watch as characters’ faces are illuminated in its warm glow and they stare into the horizon towards whatever the future may bring.

Sunrises are energizing, anticipatory and always filled with the hope of newness.2 However, the new beginning sunrises

¹ “Sunrise, Sunset Bring Power and Knowledge,” Deseret News, April 8, 1998. 2 Christopher. “Sunset Symbolism (6 Meanings in Life and Literature),” Symbolism and Metaphor, Jan. 16, 2021. often symbolize in the life of characters on-screen is not always a welcomed change. While we usually associate sunrises with moments where characters are filled with hopefulness and inspiration, they can also bring about feelings of hopelessness. Whether trying to fathom life after loss or the excitement of a new era, sunrises are there to welcome characters into a new day, ready or not.

Sunsets, on the other hand, symbolize the completion of a cycle and the end of an era for characters in film.3 Whether it’s over the ocean, behind a city skyline, over the hills or elsewhere, sunsets represent closure, finality and even victory. As the sun sets, time seems to slow for the first time after hours of plot unfolding. Characters are finally allowed to feel a sense of calmness and completion while simultaneously looking ahead to the new beginning the sunrise will inevitably bring. The setting sun symbolizes both who the characters have become and hope for who they have yet to become throughout the film and beyond it.

The cyclical nature of the sun as it rises gives light to our days and retreats below the horizon once more is reminiscent of life itself. We’re born, we live and we die. We wake up in the morning, we go about our days and we go to bed. We start and finish, live and learn, fall and get back up in a never-ending cycle of love, loss and everything in between.■

Shown most iconically at the end of films before the screen fades to black and the credits start to roll, sunrises or sunsets set the screen aglow in a beacon of color and light.

³ Ibid.