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Before Sunrise
Five time Oscar nominated director and screenwriter Richard Linklater originally knocked it out of the park with 1995's Before Sunrise, a lyrical and unconventional love story that examines the concept of love at first sight from a twisted angle that fascinates from opening to closing credits.
American Jessie meets French Celine on a train traveling from Budapest to Paris. Celine is traveling all the way to Paris, but Jessie is getting off the train at Vienna where he is catching a plane back to the states. After having a sparkling conservation and meal on the train club car, Jessie impulsively asks Celine to get off the train with him and spend the night with him until he has to leave Vienna the next morning and she, surprisingly, agrees.
What can I say, I absolutely LOVED this movie. This is one of those magical love stories that stays just within the boundaries of realism, enabling us to accept everything that happens and that it happens in less than 24 hours. Jessie and Celine play tourist in Vienna, each place they visit becoming a vignette in their very special love story. From their lovely meeting in the lounge car, the connection between these two is based on intelligent conversation, shared passion, and the sexual tension that arouses from their getting to know each other first. They don't share a kiss until 30 minutes into the film and whether or not they have sex is addressed, but left up to the discretion of the viewer to decide if it happened and I loved that.
The film features gorgeous Italian scenery and I loved that after the film was over, the camera visits everyplace that the couple did. This was one of those movies that had me so completely invested and wanted more when it was over. I was so relieved to learn that there is a sequel called Before Sunset, which earned Linklater his first Oscar nomination for co-writing the screenplay. The effervescent performances by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as Jessie and Celine, respectively, light up the screen. Lovers of classic movie romance will eat this one up.
Five time Oscar nominated director and screenwriter Richard Linklater originally knocked it out of the park with 1995's Before Sunrise, a lyrical and unconventional love story that examines the concept of love at first sight from a twisted angle that fascinates from opening to closing credits.
American Jessie meets French Celine on a train traveling from Budapest to Paris. Celine is traveling all the way to Paris, but Jessie is getting off the train at Vienna where he is catching a plane back to the states. After having a sparkling conservation and meal on the train club car, Jessie impulsively asks Celine to get off the train with him and spend the night with him until he has to leave Vienna the next morning and she, surprisingly, agrees.
What can I say, I absolutely LOVED this movie. This is one of those magical love stories that stays just within the boundaries of realism, enabling us to accept everything that happens and that it happens in less than 24 hours. Jessie and Celine play tourist in Vienna, each place they visit becoming a vignette in their very special love story. From their lovely meeting in the lounge car, the connection between these two is based on intelligent conversation, shared passion, and the sexual tension that arouses from their getting to know each other first. They don't share a kiss until 30 minutes into the film and whether or not they have sex is addressed, but left up to the discretion of the viewer to decide if it happened and I loved that.
The film features gorgeous Italian scenery and I loved that after the film was over, the camera visits everyplace that the couple did. This was one of those movies that had me so completely invested and wanted more when it was over. I was so relieved to learn that there is a sequel called Before Sunset, which earned Linklater his first Oscar nomination for co-writing the screenplay. The effervescent performances by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as Jessie and Celine, respectively, light up the screen. Lovers of classic movie romance will eat this one up.