crystalcallas said:
Note:
I saw Before Sunrise AFTER I saw Before Sunset
That's a real shame imo, as I can imagine that the resonance of the second film could only be diminished by seeing them in the wrong order. But, you evidently still enjoyed them immensely, so it's not really important.
I love both of these films.
I saw the first one when I was about 15 maybe 16, & it struck a chord with me immediately. It was about this age that I began to realise that, deep down, I am a hopeless romantic, &
Before Sunrise was one of the snippets of 20th century culture that helped to bring it out.
I remember watching it & wishing that a similar situation would arise in my life - a fateful, coincidental meeting with someone that you profoundly connected with instantly, & who it seemed you had known your entire life. A few years later, such an incident did actually occur to me, & it was this film that I thought of when it did.
The sense of place, of youthful naivete & exuberance, of two strangers who instantly ignite a spark of recognition in one another, of a night that seems like it will last forever right up until that point where reality kicks back in & it actually ends - all of them are so well conveyed.
I saw
Before Sunset for the first time a month or so ago, & loved it just as much as the first film. It was strange, but I felt my stomach lurch in excitement & trepidation when they first see each other again for the first time just like I imagine Ethan Hawke's characters did.
I'm not in a failing marriage, but in the 10 or so interim years between seeing the films, I've had my fair share of heartbreak, & learnt some of the harsher lessons that life has to deal out. So the way in which the two characters are no longer the idealistic, joyous, carefree young things as portrayed in the first film once again struck a chord. They're still inherently optimistic, but now it's been tempered with a healthy dose of realism, & this is slowly revealed the more the film goes on. The scene in the back of the car when Celine achingly reaches out for Jesse & he doesn't see it is a heart-breaker.
There was a definite sense of familiarity for me with some of the things that they'd learnt since their first fateful meeting. I found myself nodding in silent knowing agreement & approval with some of the starker realizations that they'd made since.
The acting is just great in both films - they work off each other so well, & these are two characters who give a very real sense of having a life outside of what is shown on film.
Like most Richard Linklater films they seem to be very "love-it" or "hate-it" though - you're either one or the other, & in my experience it's those of a more romantic disposition who love them; those less so inclined who hate them.
However, if you can find me a person who doesn't break out in a great big smile when Ethan Hawke simply says
"I know..." at the end of Before Sunset, then I'd check them for a pulse....
Wonderful films.
