Before Sunrise

I loved Before Sunset so much that I decided to see the first movie. Written and directed by Richard Linklater, Before Sunrise was filmed 9 years before the sequel, Before Sunset.

Ethan Hawke stars as Jesse, a young American traveling through Europe alone. He meets a pretty, young French woman named Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train. They share an attraction and strike up a conversation. He convinces her to get off the train with him in Vienna to spend the night with him until he has to fly back to America the next day.

I liked this film, but I do like the sequel even better. Filmed during the tail end of the "grunge era", the fashions are grunge-y and Jesse and Celine have to do all the crazy things young students do when they are traveling in a strange country. They do "cool and edgy" things like have a deep conversation walking through a cemetery, sit in a listening booth together in a record store and drink wine in a park at night. They share the same carefree experiences that all young, twenty somethings wandering aimlessly, trying to find their way through life have.


The sexual tension between Celine and Jesse is palpable. It takes a little bit for them to let their guard down. Celine is quiet at first and optimistic about things. She's very pretty, but seems to do that "I'll rely on my youth and beauty and act quiet and pouty because it's sexy" thing instead of just being herself. Which is why I like her better in the sequel. She has come into her own and is more fiery. Jesse is more pessimistic and cynical about life. They both have transformations in their characters between the original and the sequel.


Linklater wrote this based on a night he had wandering around Philadelphia with a woman named Amy. Jesse and Celine embody that brief love affair that you never forget. They idealize and romanticize each other and interestingly enough, Jesse discusses what I had wondered in my last post. He stated that if two people who idealize each other so much spent more time together doing mundane, everyday life things, they probably wouldn't see them in the same romantic way. I found that Before Sunrise is more about the experiences Jesse and Celine have and Before Sunset is more about their deep, soulful connection. Both are good, but the sequel is better.

One last thing before the quote.....when did Ethan Hawke have the hotness sucked out of him? He was so hot in Before Sunrise, not so much in Before Sunset. From the part where Jesse rants about breakups......

Jesse: You know what's the worst thing about somebody breaking up with you? Is when you remember how little you thought about the people you broke up with and you realize that is how little they're thinking of you. You know, you'd like to think you're both in all this pain but they're just like 'Hey, I'm glad you're gone'.

More ramblings to come......