Before Sunrise

Can't they just say what they mean? Can you? Language, after all, is not just about points and meanings. It is a medium of communication, yes, but also of avoidance, misdirection, self-protection and plain confusion, all of which are among the themes of this movie, which captures a deep truth seldom acknowledged on screen or in books: people often talk because they have nothing to say.

-A.O. Scott

The venerable Mr. Scott said this in his review of Before Sunset which is just as good and profound as many of his reviews. I admit when I saw the same film I was not as enamored of it but I of course did not heed Mr. Scott's advice "it is probably best to resist the temptation to watch "Before Sunrise" again until after you have seen the sequel." But nevertheless the block quote above could just as easily apply to the characters introduced in the original film.

Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet seemingly by chance on a train from Budapest to Paris. They strike up a conversation as the train bustles along as a deadline nears. Jesse is getting off the train at Vienna. Throwing caution and regrets to the wind both decide to disembark the train at Vienna and spend the night getting to know each other before Jesse gets on a plane back to the US. A simple set up, a simple plot and one that works very well.

The key to the film is that these two characters talk. They don't just talk about their lives but their pasts. They tell stories of funny things their friends did. It all feels real, at times mundane at times ill advised. They argue at times, they come off a bit pretentious at others. They float through Vienna not caring what they must sound like to others and are engrossed in their own little world. Jesse is a bit of a pessimist when it comes to love, Celine a more hopeless romantic. But there is no denying that both are seeking it.

Jesse is thinking it does not exist but hoping it might? Celine knowing it exists but thinking it may never happen for her. There is something enigmatic about watching the two as they stroll past the sights of Vienna. Why did he say that? Why is she asking that? But through it all you believe these two could fall in love in one night. Yeah some of what they say is a bit annoying and I don't agree with it. But that makes them all the more real. They believe it or rather they think they do because they are twenty three.

Not to be too systematic here but there are those who enjoy a good romance, there are those who don't and there are those who are like Celine. Hopeless romantics, who know love exists in the world and hoping it happens to them. If it isn't abundantly obvious to anyone who knows me, has read this blog or is a brand new reader (hey thanks for joining us!) then you know I'm of the third category. And I'm willing to bet (not really bet mind you) that if you are like me you will really love this movie.

And I'm also willing to bet that if you loved this movie, you also have your own tale. A tale of a perfect night with a woman or a man consumed with conversation. And maybe its not as cinematic as this film or maybe its more cinematic (at least in your own head). And maybe you never saw that person again and think on what might have been. Or maybe you did see them and it didn't quite work out the way you wanted it too. But when you see Before Sunrise, I think you are going to think back to that night and smile.

And yes I'm sappy and not well versed, but I wouldn't have said this after my first viewing of the film. I hadn't had one of those nights yet. I still enjoyed the viewing but nothing made me appreciate this viewing more than my own experience. And as I watched Jesse and Celine talk the night away I thought about my own "night in Vienna" story (which was not in Vienna at all or even anywhere close to as beautiful as Vienna) and that made me smile as much as the film.

But I would disagree perhaps slightly with Mr. Scott whom I have quoted above. Maybe its not having nothing to say but fear of saying what one wants to say. Because frankly when I have been enamored of a woman, more often than not I drone on endlessly about everything because just coming out and admitting the adoration is far more terrifying than sounding like an idiot all night. And in all that mindless blather, the right man or woman will see through it and hopefully give you an amused smile.

The film may leave you a bit melancholic as may your memory but damned if it doesn't also renew my hope. Damned if I don't want to sit outside on a nice fall evening and drink a scotch and remember my good memory. And hope that one day another opportunity comes along and in that night of all consuming conversation perhaps I'll share a story about spending a night consumed in conversation and how grateful I am to be building another one.