This reconstruction of the earliest surviving Murnau film--long lost, and then existing only in a partial print--represents a major rediscovery of a work that, even on its release, was hailed as a milestone in the art of cinema. The story, involving a tortured triangle between a doctor, his wife, and the patient he cures of blindness, is reflected in a brilliant use of natural imagery. Written by Carl Mayer, the treatment, with its wealth of psychological detail, was recognized as an early entry into the Kammerspiel-film. Lotte Eisner, in her book Murnau, cites a Murnau contemporary, the critic Willy Haas (who later wrote the script for Der Brennende Acker): “(Haas) speaks of a certain ineffable musical quality in the film.... Carl Mayer's evocative script, at once simple and exquisitely subtle, shows him to be a great poet. Willy Haas talks of headlights gliding over rain-wet asphalt in the dark city, of rough seas, a dazzling sunrise, almost imperceptible gestures, facial expressions so eloquent that they reveal the soul within. It is impossible, he says, to speak specifically of Murnau's contribution as a director: it is to be seen everywhere in all the great qualities of the film. Was Gang in die Nacht Murnau's first masterpiece,” Eisner asks, “or is Haas simply the first critic to have perceived Murnau's quality?”