Before Sunrise
Reviewed by Jane Schneider
Before Sunrise is at best a charming love story exploring the bittersweet character-forming aspects of fly by night affairs. A couple meet on a train and spend an evening in Vienna together. What results is a laboured exercise in getting to know.
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Seline (Julie Delpy) talk about everything that comes to mind. The film is one long conversation with no consequential highs and lows. When the two spontaneously decide to spend the evening together — with no money for a hotel — the audience settle in their seats. It's going to be a long night.
The director and co-writer, Richard Linklater (who also brought us Dazed and Confused and Slacker), has created a real time feel. The sound track is naturalistic and uses no scored music. The camera is often hand held — or steadicam — and the dialogue is so humdrum and true to life that the film often resembles an observational documentary — an unedited one, however.
Many of the scenes are set on modes of transport, which painfully underlies the moving, transient nature of life so often referred to in the dialogue. This does, however, contribute something kinetic to scenes that are limping along despite sensitive and convincing performances from both actors.
The conversation touches on topics such as the media, the need to be loved, slightly fucked-up parents and do you believe in reincarnation?
The scene in the sound booth of a music store brought unintentional laughter when their sexual tension strained to Kath Bloom's folkie strumming and lyrics, "I have never wanted you so much. Come here."
The story takes us nowhere. The sun eventually rose and it was all over. Will they ever see each other again?
Although the experience is truly identifiable, I did not want to spend 101 minutes reliving it. I think you need to be extremely in love with the person you met last night to find this film engaging.