303

Hans Weingartner worked as production assistent on Richad Linklaters classic Before Sunrise. 303 is his variation on the theme. It is a subtle, slowpaced heartwarming film with two great actors. Especially Mala Emde gives a breakout performance. Two different characters slowly developing emotions while on a roadtrip through Europe. I really enjoyed the movie. My only critique is the running time of almost two an a half hours. Linklater does it shorter and that would have benefitted this gem also. Anyways, I would love to see part two nine years,later.

303 is so beautiful and knows how to take its time, edit it all together nicely, use music effectively, and the subtlety of the direction works as well. The actors also are very good and give a sense of honesty to their characters. I wasn't sure if it could actually pull off a runtime of over two hours, but it could and it never got dull or uninteresting. Think Before trilogy, but German and with its own feeling to it.

By the way, I think it's pretty funny the director actually had a role in Before Sunrise as a cafe patron.

On a sidenote, 2018 seems to me like a unusually good year for German cinema from what I have seen so far.

Please give this film a chance if you are a fan of talky movies. I really love this one a lot.

This is inevitably going to be compared to Before Sunrise, the 1995 Linklater film about a girl and boy who meet on the road and spend the film walking and talking about the inane, self-absorbed, philosophical things that young strangers in their 20s talk about. I loved Before Sunrise, but watching it again after decades I was struck by how heavy-handed and affected, albeit charming, it felt, how much the actors felt like movie stars rather than average people.

"303" feels utterly natural, unaffected. The leads are attractive (of course) but their portrayal of the frailties and warmth of two random strangers who find themselves unexpected travelling companions is believable and sympathetic. This is a film about two people in their 20s talking. The conversations are in turns inane, thoughtful, philosophical, naive, imbued with a sense of self-uniqueness and import that is the nature of being in your 20s. There is drama as well on this journey, but it is low key and ultimately isn't the point. The journey is the point.

Where "303" loses a star or two is that it never really pushes boundaries. It is what it seems to be, no more and no less. That's still pretty great.

Two brilliant young handsome German university students in a fresh romantic comedy + road movie.

This movie surprised me in the best way. You go on this beautiful trip with Jule and Jan, two people that are looking for answers. Wonderful landscapes, interesting conversations plus the incredible tension between the main characters. It felt as if I was there with them third wheeling the whole time. Chemistry, love, family, death, faith, friendships, heartbreak, all these topics are talked about by these two lost people that found in each other the comfort they both needed.

This is the type of movie you just want to watch again because it has everything you need to feel good.