Spurple Films

Before Sunrise, Before Sunset

I tried coming up with a good caption for that picture. I looked over all the quotes on IMDB, checked out the taglines for the movie, and tried on a few one liners of my own. But nothing sounded good. Everything was just too cheesy. Instead, I'll just put it simply...

These two movies together make up one of the best (and definitely my personal favroite) romances ever put on screen.

The romance starts with Before Sunrise, where two young people meet on a train in Europe. Jesse (Ethan Hawk) is an American who has to catch a plane leaving Vienna in the morning, and Celine (Julie Delpy) is a French student taking the train back home to Paris. The two start talking, and the words immediately flow freely between them. Jesse asks Celine to get off the train in Vienna with him (by telling a great story about how there night could be seen as a form of time travel). Of course, she does.

The two spend the entire night walking around Vienna, talking about life, love, death, and reincarnation. There is one scene in the film where the two call their friends and describe the night. Celine picks up a pretend phone, and describes everything to Jesse, who is pretending to be Celine's friend. She says how she was ready to get off the train with him before he even asked her to, and how she likes the feel of his eyes on her each time she looks away. They share with each other all the personal details you would never share with a stranger, and they share them with each other because both believe they will never see one another again.

Of course neither of them like this idea of parting ways forever, and they hastily decide to meet again, in Vienna, in six months. That's where the movie ends, and nine years later we were given Before Sunset.

Before Sunset was filmed, and takes place, nine years after the events of Before Sunrise. Jesse has written a book (one about that beautiful night in Vienna), and is having a book signing in Paris. And who shows up at this signing? None other than Celine. Just like last time, Jesse has a plane to catch, but what's worse is that he only has about an hour. The film is shot in what looks to be real time, as Jesse and Celine rush to catch up on the past nine years that they didn't spent together.

They are both older now, and both much wiser. Before they were young, dumb kids, who thought connections like there's came about all the time. They didn't exchange phone numbers or addresses, they just hoped it would all work out, and they assumed if it didn't then they would find someone else. But now they have gone through life, they no longer feel like 13-year olds trapped in a body of a 22-year old, and they understand that what they had shouldn't have been taken lightly, and they think they understand that their chance together has passed.

What's so great about this film, why it is better than the original, and why it helps make Jesse and Celine's love one of the all time great romances, is because the two say everything to each other that you would have wanted to find out about them. Did they meet up in Vienna after those six months? Was there any kind of contact between them? Are they in relationships? Are they married? Do they have kids? Are their lives apart from each other as miserable as you thought they'd be, because you know these two could not possibly be happy without one another? Everything you want them to say is said, all packed into a 77-minute film. 77-minutes. If you are like me, you won't be able to stop looking at your watch, constantly thinking "Oh God, they've only got another twenty minutse left together..." I was dreading this films end since the start of it. But when it finally did end, I was pleased to see what has now become one of my favorite film endings of all time.

By the time this film concludes, you will be convinced of two things. One, that these people were meant to spend their lives together. And two, you will be convinced that you need to see more of these two together. That you would do anything to see another film, and see where these two went with their lives.

2008-02-22 22:31:17 GMT

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		All the shit I've ever wanted to say about movies...

		Before Sunrise, Before Sunset I tried coming up with a good caption for that picture. I looked over all the quotes on IMDB, checked out the taglines for the movie, and tried on a few one liners of my own. But nothing sounded good. Everything was just too cheesy. Instead, I'll just put it simply... These two movies together make up one of the best (and definitely my personal favroite) romances ever put on screen. The romance starts with Before Sunrise, where two young people meet on a train in Europe. Jesse (Ethan Hawk) is an American who has to catch a plane leaving Vienna in the morning, and Celine (Julie Delpy) is a French student taking the train back home to Paris. The two start talking, and the words immediately flow freely between them. Jesse asks Celine to get off the train in Vienna with him (by telling a great story about how there night could be seen as a form of time travel). Of course, she does. The two spend the entire night walking around Vienna, talking about life, love, death, and reincarnation. There is one scene in the film where the two call their friends and describe the night. Celine picks up a pretend phone, and describes everything to Jesse, who is pretending to be Celine's friend. She says how she was ready to get off the train with him before he even asked her to, and how she likes the feel of his eyes on her each time she looks away. They share with each other all the personal details you would never share with a stranger, and they share them with each other because both believe they will never see one another again. Of course neither of them like this idea of parting ways forever, and they hastily decide to meet again, in Vienna, in six months. That's where the movie ends, and nine years later we were given Before Sunset. Before Sunset was filmed, and takes place, nine years after the events of Before Sunrise. Jesse has written a book (one about that beautiful night in Vienna), and is having a book signing in Paris. And who shows up at this signing? None other than Celine. Just like last time, Jesse has a plane to catch, but what's worse is that he only has about an hour. The film is shot in what looks to be real time, as Jesse and Celine rush to catch up on the past nine years that they didn't spent together. They are both older now, and both much wiser. Before they were young, dumb kids, who thought connections like there's came about all the time. They didn't exchange phone numbers or addresses, they just hoped it would all work out, and they assumed if it didn't then they would find someone else. But now they have gone through life, they no longer feel like 13-year olds trapped in a body of a 22-year old, and they understand that what they had shouldn't have been taken lightly, and they think they understand that their chance together has passed. What's so great about this film, why it is better than the original, and why it helps make Jesse and Celine's love one of the all time great romances, is because the two say everything to each other that you would have wanted to find out about them. Did they meet up in Vienna after those six months? Was there any kind of contact between them? Are they in relationships? Are they married? Do they have kids? Are their lives apart from each other as miserable as you thought they'd be, because you know these two could not possibly be happy without one another? Everything you want them to say is said, all packed into a 77-minute film. 77-minutes. If you are like me, you won't be able to stop looking at your watch, constantly thinking "Oh God, they've only got another twenty minutse left together..." I was dreading this films end since the start of it. But when it finally did end, I was pleased to see what has now become one of my favorite film endings of all time. By the time this film concludes, you will be convinced of two things. One, that these people were meant to spend their lives together. And two, you will be convinced that you need to see more of these two together. That you would do anything to see another film, and see where these two went with their lives. 2008-02-22 22:31:17 GMT Site Home