Before Sunrise

American tourist Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets French student Celine (Julie Delpy) on the train. He talks her into getting off and walk around in Vienna. They walk the night away.

I really love this movie when it first came out. There was no hint of the following sequels. It's just a great charming first date movie. The leads have great chemistry. They are both charming and lovely. This is a lot of first-date talk. It doesn't get tie down by artificial plot elements. There is nothing to drive the plot. There is no Holy Grail. There is no quest. There is no destination. There are just two people talking and trying to connect. It stops and starts. They meet two oddly funny Germans who invite them to their play. In a more conventional movie, they would actually go to this play. They forget to go and that's kind of the point. Their journey meanders without much direction. There are also great scenes of long continuous takes. Director Linklater just let the actors go on forever on the streetcar. The whole movie feels refreshing.

What an incredibly brave and honest look at relationships. I've have never seen a film so precisely and brilliantly capture this kind of emotion and transfer it to the screen the way Before Sunrise does. What a crime that neither Ethan Hawke or Julie Delpy was nominated for any major acting awards, actually screw that! What a crime it was that they didn't both sweep every major acting award altogether and that Richard Linklater didn't get any recognition for the screenwriting or brilliant directing of his wonderful actors! Loved the ending (as much as it pained me at the same time), loved how after it all they go back and show every location that the couple shared together. Loved how the dialogue never wavers, never addressing the relationship directly but allows us to indirectly see a geniune bond forming through the body language, facial expressions, and the dialogue, ooooohhh the dialogue. Every bit of it plucked right from those top ten late night conversations we've all had with close friends whether it was serious or in jest. And respect to Linklater for keepin it real, the movie was rated R cause of a couple minor swear words? Could of easily been removed without really desecrating the film but he keeps it in anyways. Screw you hollywood, your 'romantic comedies', your Freddie Prinze Jr.'s, your 'take the glasses off the girl and now she's pretty' movies. This is real romance! This is what I come to the movies for, to think, to be provoked and to be swept away by the magic that only cinema can provide. Before Sunrise has single-handedly reminded me about why I goto the movies......

Sweet and charming, funny and poignant, plot less but meaningful, "Before Sunrise" (1995), the third movie of Richard Linklater, is dedicated to everyone who ever been in love, is in love, or never been in love but still dreams of it and hopes to find it. It is one of the very rare movies that is/should/will be equally interesting to teenagers, their parents and even grandparents. It seems a very simple little movie with no spectacular visual effects, car chases, or long and steamy sex scenes. Two young people in their early 20s, two college students (American tourist Ethan Hawke who is returning home after the summer in Europe and the French student Julie Delpy who goes to Paris to attend the classes in Sorbonne) meet on a train. They are attracted to each other instantly even before they start talking, they hop off the train in Vienna where they walk around exploring the city all night. They talk and fall in love. That's it, that's the movie. It could've been boring and silly but instead, it is a lovely, believable, clever, and moving romance that only gets better with each viewing (at least, for this viewer). High praise and my sincere gratitude go to the director and writers for delivering two charming characters, superb writing, always interesting and witty dialogs, two awesome performances, and the atmosphere of magic that falling in love is. Julie Delpy, who looks like a Botticelli's angel, is great in portraying smart, independent, and incredibly attractive young woman.

This has to be one of the most sincere and touching boy-meets-girl movies ever made. While "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Say Anything" deliver nice portrayals, this movies strips down useless subplots and Hollywood divergences. This movie focuses purely on watching the budding of a beautiful romance. You never doubt for a second that the film will lead towards the romantic pairing of these two people. You almost immediately sense the synergy and the chemistry between Jesse and Celine, and it is simply pure joy to watch them find it. This movie is mostly all dialogue -based. But, every conversation between these too is greatly intriguing. What makes this pairing so romantic is how real it is. How in all that conversation, while often having no real bearing on anything critical, you can sense the nuances as these two become more fond and trusting of each other. This is exactly they way you would dream that you meet that special someone. And what makes it so true is that it is not even too fantastic to believe. This could be what would happen if you had been confident enough to strike up a conversation with that person you noticed somewhere random. And what puts the icing on this film is the magnificent backdrop of Vienna in which this film takes place. It just adds to the feeling of romantic nirvana that the film suggests. And no matter how many times I watch this film, I don't think I will ever tire of that.

I want Céline and Jessie go further in their relationship, I want to tell them that they were made for each other, that in a lot of moment in the film we want they to die for each other. Their story is what we ever wanted and probably most of us never reached. This is about love but not stupid things like in "notting hills" or those kind of movie. This is life and i did believe in them, i did believe they were falling... This was so clever and touching. I have just finished to view it a minute ago and i m still there... I want to go to Vienna. I want to see them as soon as possible again.

I have to say i was now becoming misanthropist and felt like if love was just a fake, a concept, but with this movie i realized that maybe somewhere, somehow and some when, something could really happen.

I'm french and didn't know very well July Delpy despite Kieslowski "three colors : white"... Now i have to see her other works because she looks like an angel and got a perfect acting.

i saw "before sunset" (the sequel in Paris) a few days before i saw "before sunrise" and their is no matter. They are both masterpieces. proof that you don't need to impress the eyes with technology to get pure feelings. I'm sorry for my English which i m trying to best.

Franck in France