Before Sunrise
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
I guess this could be called a "chick flick". I used to avoid any movie that could be categorized as such. Having Kay around has changed that...
I like Richard Linklater, but for very different kinds of films (Dazed and Confused, School of Rock). This is a romance about an American (Hawke) and a French girl (Delpy) who meet randomly on a train and decide to spend the evening together in Vienna. Their story takes place in one night. This movie did a lot of amazing things. Their experience, chemestry, awkwardness, freedom, and insecurity is perfectly captured in real time.
First, my nitpick: 2 strangers would not have this many deep things to talk about in real life. However, I accept this because it is a romantic portrayal of the possibilites that such a situation can bring.
Now begins the sappy post (this will sound like an actual blog for a bit...sorry)
So, how would you act around someone if you didn't know them and knew you'd never see them again? Would you be yourself or the person you wish you were?
For the first 20 years of my life, I never had a "girlfriend". I was a hopeless romantic whose life was full of unrequited crushes. A movie like this represents an experience I would have dreamed of. To meet a stranger and bear my soul and fall in love in an instant. This would be my dream. Just one night of a true experience with a girl.
Now I have Kaylen, the most important person in my life. It's better than I could have ever dreamed of. I think I would have looked at this movie differently 2.5 years ago. Now, I would never be satisfied with one night. I would be like these two people in this movie (I forgot the character names, but the beauty is that their names are not relevant at all). They decide at the last possible second that their story must not end. That's how I would feel too. I could have never agreed to never see Kaylen again after the first night we spent together. I think that's how people are. We're rarely satisfied with isolated experiences. We can never get enough of a good thing. That's why we take pictures of everything, call each other all the time, and reminesce about things that just happened. This movie presents a human experience in a real way.
Ok, sorry for the schmaltz, that sort of just came out of nowhere. More about the movie:
I was so enthralled with the movie that I wasn't able to pay attention to the technical aspects of the movie. Kaylen would occasionally point out to me, though, things like "wow, this is all one continuous shot!" That is a testament to the wonderful job done by these two actors. It's funny, at the end, Kay said she identified with Delpy and I said that I definitely identified with Hawke.
Favorite scene #1: towards the beginning of their evening, the two wander into a record store (one of the first place I would take a stranger) and listen to a song in a listening booth. This scene shows awkwardness and uncertainty about their decisions and feelings with pauses, silence, and avoiding glances
Favorite scene #2: the two make fake phone calls to friends at home to tell about their night. This is their first opportunity to take a step back, examine the last few hours, and tell the other person how they really feel.
Wow, I've typed a lot... guess I liked this movie even more than I thought. Lucky for me, a sequel was made 9 years later. Kay and I wanted to watch it tomorrow, but decided we should wait, like our two protagonists. Let's let this movie's experience be what it is for a little while first.
Lesson learned: Sometimes, it's ok to talk to strangers.
(I'm not showing favorite scene #2 because it wouldn't mean anything unless you've watched the previous events)
No comments:
Post a Comment