Picture Credits: travelling the world solo
“If there's any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something.”
There’s no spark greater than meeting someone who truly understands you - someone who can read between the lines without reading between the lines. To find the person who alienates the chasm between your ideas and its interpretation is the true miracle.
Movie Name - Before Sunrise (1995)
Directed By - Richard Linklater
Written By - Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan
Starring - Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Duration - 1h 45min
Genre - Romance
Language - English
Plot (Spoiler Alert!)
Jesse (Ethan Hawke), an American boy going to Vienna to catch a flight back to the United States meets Celine (Julie Delpy), a French girl returning to university in Paris on a Eurail from Budapest.
As they strike up a conversation and there’s a glimmer of a spark between the two of them, Jesse convinces Celine to get off the train with him and wander around Vienna.
They explore a few places around Vienna, constantly conversing about topics ranging from philosophy and religion to life and love. As they begin to form a romantic affinity for one another, they share a kiss on top of the Wiener Riesenrad as the sun sets.
Walking around town, they learn about each other’s past relationships, and more specifically, their last breakups. They also meet a man alongside the Danube canal who offers to write them a poem with a word of their choosing in it. The man then reads out a beautiful poem (Delusion Angel by David Jewell) with the word “milkshake” in it, as per their choosing.
Later at a Vietnamese cafe, Jesse and Celine act out telephonic conversations with their friends, admitting their feelings for one another. Though they know that they might never see each other again, they end up having sex, when Jesse admits that he would rather marry her than not see her again.
As they part ways at the train station, the film ends with Jesse and Celine agreeing not to exchange any contact information, but promising to meet up in the same place six months later.
Underlying Themes of Conversation
Throughout the film, the most interesting and captivating fragments are the conversations that Jesse and Celine share.
“I always feel this pressure of being a strong and independent icon of womanhood, and without making it look my whole life is revolving around some guy. But loving someone, and being loved means so much to me.”
There is a large feminist undertone in the film in the form of Celine’s character. She is a smart, independent woman constantly torn between if valuing love too much will diminish her feminist ideologies. It gives us a deep insight on the Feminism vs Loneliness aspect that closely resonates with the character of Jo March in Little Women.
“Even though I reject most of the religious things I can't help but feel for all those people that come here lost or in pain, guilt, looking for some kind of answers. It fascinates me how a single place can join so much pain and happiness for so many generations.”
Another interesting aspect in the film is Jesse and Celine’s perspectives on religion. Both of them represent the modern youth of the time who naturally, aren’t very religious. This outside perspective is what makes their take on religion so fascinating.
Director’s Inspiration
Richard Linklater was inspired to make this film after meeting a young woman named Amy Lehrhaupt, and spending an evening with her in Philadelphia on his way from New York to Austin. Celine’s character is based on Amy, and Jesse is loosely based on Linklater himself.
Unfortunately, Linklater learnt much later in 2010, that Amy had passed away in a motorcycle accident before the release of Before Sunrise on 19th January, 1995 at the Sundance Film Festival.
Critical Reception
Monetarily, Before Sunrise was not a huge success, grossing $5.5 million with a budget of $2.5 million. However, it received great critical acclaim and a large and loyal fan base.
Richard Linklater won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival. The film received a load of positive reviews from various sources, including Rotten Tomatoes (100% positive reviews with 8.32 on 10), Entertainment Weekly (giving the film an “A” rating and ranking it #25 on their Top 25 Modern Romances list), Metacritic (77 out of 100), CinemaScore (grade B), The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, so on and so forth.
Famous Quotes
“But isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?”
“Media is the new form of fascism.”
“The only person I could really hurt is myself.”
“I believe if there's any kind of God it wouldn't be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between.”
“People always talk about how love is this totally unselfish, giving thing, but if you think about it, there's nothing more selfish.”
The Bottom Line
This movie, along with its sequels, Before Sunset and Before Midnight are staples for any romance movie lovers out there. It gives us a look into how real romance and real connections look like, away from the grand romantic gestures in most romantic movies.
Jesse and Celine’s conversations will keep you hooked and Before Sunrise will be the movie you keep going back to, for in its little intricacies, it will hold the strings to your little epiphanies.
My ratings for the movie - 5 on 5
Written By - Kristi Mazumdar
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