I watched Before Sunrise last night on vcd and found it pretty enjoyable. I know I’m nine years late in watching the film…hell, the sequel Before Sunset is out already!
I know that monomania loves the film (and I trust her taste) so I decided that I had to watch it before watching the sequel which monoceros has written about.
Before Sunrise is really a long conversation between two twentysomethings who meet on a train by chance and find a real connection between them. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) then asks Celine (Julie Delpy) to get off the train to spend a day with him in Vienna before he flies back to New York the next morning.
So we follow them as they muse about life, their hopes and dreams for the future as they explore the romantic city of Vienna. Jesse and Celine make the most of their few hours together and it’s the transient nature of their relationship which makes their time together so beautiful. So bittersweet.
Hawke and Delpy put up perfectly believeable performances as two young souls caught up in the magic of the moment.
The charm of this understated film lies in the conversations the two protagonists engage in. Kudos to the writers who have managed to voice out the thoughts that many people have.
I’m looking forward to Before Sunset to see where the protagonists end up nine years on.