Before Sunrise
Sunday, September 13; Matt’s Dorm Room
* * * ¼ (out of 4)
This is a movie that suffered because it was viewed out of sequence. I saw Before Sunset a few weeks back, adored it, and very much wanted to see where everything started from. Unfortunately, I went in expecting the same type of film, with the same style. Sunrise and Sunset are two very different movies, and while that’s not at all a bad thing, in the end I enjoyed the second film more than the first. Whether I would say that had I seen the two in order, I can’t say.
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet on a train headed for a stop in Vienna. Shortly before arriving, the young American writer and the beautiful Parisian artist begin talking on the train, discussing politics, their own lives, anything and everything that came to mind. Jesse will be catching a flight out of Vienna in the morning, and invites Celine to join him for the evening exploring city and continuing their conversation, which they both realize is uncovering an incredible connection. She agrees, and they spend one night together as wandering tourists, eventually confronting their feelings for each other.
In ways, this is a ‘standard’ love story, but other aspects make it very special. Yes, these are two people placed together by circumstances that most of us will never experience – much of the world is far too self-involved to start a random conversation on a train – but what deserves attention is that these two people follow through in a way that very few would even dare. Something that works through the entire movie starts at the very beginning, and that’s the chemistry and attraction between Hawke and Delpy. There’s no question that these two people see something very special in each other, and that they are willing to explore that with no promise of resolution (due to the planned parting of ways in the morning) makes their connection much more endearing. The two play off each other beautifully… every awkward moment is awkward but playful, every silence carries weight for a variety of reasons. There’s tension and passion very well balanced in the air between them at all times.
But it looks like a standard romance. As in Sunset, director Richard Linklater shoots his setting beautifully, letting the audience experience Vienna just as his characters do, but beyond that this feels like it could be any number of romantic comedies. The sequel had a feel to it that kept the focus almost entirely on the characters as people, not as a couple. That notion isn’t as prevalent here. Necessary, since this movie had to actually establish the two as a couple, but it is certainly something I missed. Along with that, the script was more of a straightforward romance, without the philosophic and political discussions Linklater wove into the later piece, which made the characters much more interesting as we got to see where they conflicted with each other.
Again, nothing is by any means wrong with any of this. What’s here is a beautiful, touching love story about a one-in-a-million meeting that few people will ever have the opportunity for, and which fewer still will take. Hawke and Delpy create a magnificent couple, and set up a story I would look forward to hearing about again and again as time passes.
Sunday, September 13; Matt’s Dorm Room
* * * ¼ (out of 4)
This is a movie that suffered because it was viewed out of sequence. I saw Before Sunset a few weeks back, adored it, and very much wanted to see where everything started from. Unfortunately, I went in expecting the same type of film, with the same style. Sunrise and Sunset are two very different movies, and while that’s not at all a bad thing, in the end I enjoyed the second film more than the first. Whether I would say that had I seen the two in order, I can’t say.
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet on a train headed for a stop in Vienna. Shortly before arriving, the young American writer and the beautiful Parisian artist begin talking on the train, discussing politics, their own lives, anything and everything that came to mind. Jesse will be catching a flight out of Vienna in the morning, and invites Celine to join him for the evening exploring city and continuing their conversation, which they both realize is uncovering an incredible connection. She agrees, and they spend one night together as wandering tourists, eventually confronting their feelings for each other.
In ways, this is a ‘standard’ love story, but other aspects make it very special. Yes, these are two people placed together by circumstances that most of us will never experience – much of the world is far too self-involved to start a random conversation on a train – but what deserves attention is that these two people follow through in a way that very few would even dare. Something that works through the entire movie starts at the very beginning, and that’s the chemistry and attraction between Hawke and Delpy. There’s no question that these two people see something very special in each other, and that they are willing to explore that with no promise of resolution (due to the planned parting of ways in the morning) makes their connection much more endearing. The two play off each other beautifully… every awkward moment is awkward but playful, every silence carries weight for a variety of reasons. There’s tension and passion very well balanced in the air between them at all times.
But it looks like a standard romance. As in Sunset, director Richard Linklater shoots his setting beautifully, letting the audience experience Vienna just as his characters do, but beyond that this feels like it could be any number of romantic comedies. The sequel had a feel to it that kept the focus almost entirely on the characters as people, not as a couple. That notion isn’t as prevalent here. Necessary, since this movie had to actually establish the two as a couple, but it is certainly something I missed. Along with that, the script was more of a straightforward romance, without the philosophic and political discussions Linklater wove into the later piece, which made the characters much more interesting as we got to see where they conflicted with each other.
Again, nothing is by any means wrong with any of this. What’s here is a beautiful, touching love story about a one-in-a-million meeting that few people will ever have the opportunity for, and which fewer still will take. Hawke and Delpy create a magnificent couple, and set up a story I would look forward to hearing about again and again as time passes.
posted by Matt S. at
12:39 AM
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