Most people have things they have been fixated on for years, things they call their favourites. Be that a favourite city or a favourite movie, the reality is a favourite is never perfect. Some favourites are more consensual and shared among people, but either way, there is always someone who doesn’t appreciate them or that can straight away spot a flaw in them. However, I always like to know people’s favourite movies since they mean so much to someone even in their imperfections.
Today I bring you one of my favourite movies of all time and I will tell you what makes this movie so special in my eyes. Before Sunrise is a romantic drama from 1995, directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and Kim Krizan. If you haven’t watched it yet, I strongly suggest that you do and then come back to read my thoughts, or just read at your own risk!
This movie is the first instalment of a trilogy in which the plots are set apart by 9 years, and so are the movies (2004 and 2013). Even though this is more related to the trilogy as a whole, I do think the way Linklater developed it shows how invested he is in the stories he wants to tell, and I find that inspiring. A story that always takes its time and that evolves as slow as life itself and a film crew that is available and interested in keeping this going. The first time I watched the trilogy was back in 2016, so I cannot imagine how people in 1995 felt with the ending of Before Sunrise, or if they knew they would get some closure, but only 9 years later (and the same with the rest of the films). As I am a hopeless romantic and like this trilogy so much, I was waiting for a fourth movie now in 2022, as tradition dictates, but from what I have read that will not happen.
Before Sunrise follows Jesse, played by Ethan Hawke, and Céline, played by Julie Delpy, as their characters are in their 20s and they meet on a train. Jesse is a recently single American with a flight home from Vienna by sunrise the next day and Céline is returning to university in Paris after visiting her grandmother in Budapest. Against all her previous plans, after talking for a while, Céline accepts Jesse’s proposal and gets off the train in Vienna with him. The movie follows them around Vienna for one day until they have to separate, and each follows their journey with the promise of meeting at the same train station six months later and therefore not exchange any contact information (which I know sounds a bit cliché, but it is a romantic drama after all).
What makes me like this premise so much is its simplicity, as there is no actual plot but two people walking around a city and its landmarks and having diverse conversations. As someone who loves to watch romantic movies, never have they ever presented me with such simplicity before, and instead had plots that couldn’t be further from reality. I still think this movie presents a very dreamy picture of romance, but parts of it shouldn’t be so unattainable, since if you find someone you connect with on a deeper level, spending hours walking and talking with them shouldn’t be that hard. Besides showing me what kind of connections I would like to establish with people around me, this film keeps great company as it invites the viewers to think about the issues the characters are discussing from death to feminism, to religion. The characters themselves are not perfect, at times they can even be unlikable and each hold their fair share of opinions that one might not agree with, but I guess there is nothing more realistic than that, as in life that is exactly what happens.
While I do feel like expectations can ruin romance for people, I don’t think people should be afraid of setting their standards. Before Sunrise sets its standards in appreciating the beauty of the mundane and in how much you can get to know someone if you just take the time to do so. And I truly think that is mesmerizing.
Additionally, such “minimalistic” roles demand an amazing cast that has just the right chemistry and that can take you on this journey of meeting someone for the first time, from the awkwardness to the “it’s been like this forever”, and I cannot picture anyone doing it better than Hawke and Delpy. They just fit the part. There is something about the scene in the booth when they are listening to Come Here by Kath Bloom that I will never get over.
If like me, you enjoy discovering new cities, this film introduces you to Vienna in a way that immediately transports you there and you feel like you have visited it too alongside the characters. Both score and cinematography are minimalistic but still magical and thought to the detail to fit the mood.
I do think this movie can stand on its own without the rest of the trilogy. However, you will just go crazy without knowing if they meet again after six months and if so how their relationship evolves. But of course, if you love open endings, this is yet another reason to watch it!