Before Sunrise

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Before Sunrise

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Before Sunrise

Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert, Hanno Pöschl, Karl Bruckschwaiger

While traveling through Europe on a train, a twentysomething American male meets a young French woman. It's his last day before returning to the US, but the two impulsively agree to spend his few rema...( read more  read more... )ining hours together.

Id: 10906508

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Recent Reviews

Before Sunrise Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 15, 2009
    SirPant
    Not many film makers get away with dialogue only films but with Hawke and Delpy's brilliant performances and electric chemistry, Linklater has produced his master piece. With some beautiful backdrops and excellent photography, Before Sunrise captures the very essence of love at f...( read more)irst sight. A beautiful film.
  • franktowers
    July 21, 2009
    franktowers
    nice set piece
  • FangsFirst
    April 8, 2009
    FangsFirst
    My previous experience with Richard Linklater is primarily through Slacker, which I first saw a mere clip of in a class as someone's favourite piece of film. I've also seen Dazed and Confused--two or three times, actually--and The Newton Boys but I feel someh...( read more)ow that this must be mor representative in some fashion of Linklater's tendencies.
    Much like Slacker, music does not show up throughout the film except where it exists as a literal part of the scene. This makes the film feel much more naturalistic and real; of course this effect is also enhanced by the fact that much of the dialogue, though written, comes off as ad-libbed, with plenty of placeholders--"y'know"s and "uh"s and "um"s. If it were typical of film, it would be nothing special and would probably be irritating, but here it comes off, at worst, like a play ad-libbed by talented but unrefined actors. Perhaps that's how it should seem--talent being the equivalent of natural thought processes, and ad-libbing from an outline because all interactions are based on the outline of previous experience, even when diverging from them.
    It's a shocking style to wander into in some ways, and does take a little while to get used to when the majority of film does not bear this approach. It slides in naturally through, because Ethan Hawke (Jesse) and Julie Delpy (Celine) are very natural in their very natural character roles. Before long the rhythm is easily established and the awkward nature of the relationship of two people who've never met suddenly makes perfect sense, and the flaws and foibles of normal people--earnest and good, but occasionally judgmental, naïve, irritable or short-tempered--come to light. We see why they like each other, even as we see the negative aspects of their characters.

    Their discussions are, like in Slacker, occasionally fairly obscure, often philosophical or sociological and might, to some, seem ridiculous and unrealistic, but having had those conversations and thoughts myself, it felt absolutely real, even as it bore a surreal sense to it as well. They discuss the differences in character and interaction between men and women, and find it a frustrating and neverending conversation, Jesse talks about his tangential internal explorations and approach to life, Celine about her insecurities with the way she feels she is and the way she feels she is supposed to be, and her security in what she wants, but her unsure response to being faced with the chance of actually gaining it. We see the places they're both coming from, though it is a fair bit of time before we learn the details and exact nature of those places.

    Romance is not clear, simple, straightfoward or bombastic between these two. It is real, and perhaps that reality is enhanced by the absence of music--and most importantly by Linklater's affection for long edits. Most conversations take place in single shots. Probably the reason for the many verbal placeholders, as the two actors do their best to maintain a natural conversation through five plus minutes of uncut time, in massive blocks of text that must seem off-the-cuff to be able to work completely. Sometimes the conversation even continues until the actors have made their way off, or at least nearly off, camera.

    One of the most interesting sets of scenes are the two creative panhandlers Jesse and Celine deal with over the course of their one night together. The first is a palm-reader, who Jesse decries, but Celine makes eye contact with and so they are forced to deal with her. Celine accepts her attention and even revels in it, enjoying the positive nature of her claims and the attention itself, thinking positively of the woman, even if she bears no real belief in what she says. Jesse sneers after she leaves, even if not cruelly, suggesting she is completely full of crap and has robbed Celine blind. Celine is slightly offended by this and they get into an argument only to be stopped by a man sitting next to a river who says that instead of simply asking for money, he will ask them for a word and write a poem from it, and if it adds something to their lives, they can pay him.
    Here is where the interest occurs to me; I found myself somewhere between the two points of view with the palm-reader. I don't find offense in that sort of thing, but would not give money to such a person either more than likely. But here, here I was skeptical, until I heard the poem. I'm not one for poetry, as most know, but I was actually fairly well impressed by this one--especially one that began so scattershot, which, as a very pragmatic person does not work for me most of the time.
    Then, Jesse, after they thank the man and do pay him, suggets that he merely inserted the suggested word into a pre-existing poem (though making the allowance for it being a poem of the man's all the same). At first, I thought I had become a little more bitter, as I've some notoriety for more positive, optimistic interpretations, even in the face of writing that suggests I shouldn't be. Yet, here, I was still thinking positively of someone for no reason, and finding myself vaguely annoyed at Jesse's ruination of the poem.

    All the same, both of them maintain complete likeability, and we stay with them for the entirety. A very satisfying film, and closer to the "independent" Linklater than I had been led to believe.
  • MovieGeek13
    March 19, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    The best independent film ever!
  • QueenCityFilms
    January 3, 2009
    QueenCityFilms
    One of the most romantic movies ever created...guys, if you want to get laid, sit down with a girl and a bottle of wine and halfway through the movie, just start unbuckling your pants. Done deal - just trust me.
  • Liesebieke
    December 18, 2009
    Liesebieke
    Honestly, I LOOOVE this film. Why? Because I'm a romantic chick? Maybe. But definitely because the frenchwoman characterized by Julie Delpy is in fact myself. This movie is about me. As a matter of fact this story happened to me three Summers ago in the city of London wher...( read more)e I met this American while finishing an English Breakfast and he came to my table and asked me to look for his accoustic guitar while he went to the restroom. We started talking when he came back and we spent the rest of the day visiting museums and sitting on the tube. We talked endlessly and until today we have never met each other again or talked to each other. The day didn't end up romantically either. He left me explaining he lost his airplane ticket from Heathrow to South-America that same night and he had to leave for the airport to solve the problem.
    About this movie: it was very realistic. Some of you may think it is slow and boring but that is exactly what real life is. Forget about all these successful lucky Drew Barrymore & Adam Sandler romantic comedies. They never happen while this movie Before Sunrise is more of a reality.
    What scared me most, or amazed me, is that the woman's thoughts were exacly the same opinions I would share in the same situation.
    That's why this film gets five stars from me. I recognize myself as the true adventurer I am.
  • rayld02
    November 27, 2009
    rayld02
    I can't get enough of Richard Linklater films. They are just so intellectual and have the ability to digress freely from one topic to another. The most powerful of his weapons are the words themselves which I think make a lot of sense and are never boring. A lot of people would s...( read more)ay that they hate films with characters that talk a lot. But, not all films with lots of talking are boring. Just try first to understand what the characters are saying and consider what the writer wants to impart to his audience. In this film, two beautiful characters meet in a train accidentally reminding me of how Cornel Wilde and Gene Tierney met in John Stahl's 1945 film "Leave Her to Heaven". The film is overwhelming with artistic correlations and a screenplay-poetry exhibition. The good photography adds to the overall expressiveness of this film. It's a very romantic film, just remember how each character looks like when they fall in love. It has an ending both heart-breaking and happy. The director's sense of time and space is commendable. "Waking Life", "Dazed and Confused", and "Slacker" are some of my favorites from his works.
  • mazdeyasnasiavash
    November 23, 2009
    mazdeyasnasiavash
    one of the best movie, I love it so much
  • oscartorrado
    November 13, 2009
    oscartorrado
    A different romantic movie wheres theres only two characters and dialogues, the chemestry between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy is exquisite.
  • theloneowl
    November 13, 2009
    theloneowl
    Mi si è staccato un pezzettino di cuore quando l'ho visto.
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