This week, your humble columnist would like to draw attention to a picture he is dearly close to: a minimal dialogue-based piece viscerally imbued with a hauntingly real portrait of a young man and woman.
This contemporary classic is hailed as being one of the finest romantic dramas of the ’90s and arguably auteur Richard Linklater’s chef d’oeuvre.
Following a brief but enlightening conversation on a train, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) convinces Celine (Julie Delpy) to explore Vienna with him. The result is captivating. Wine glasses are stolen, phone conversations are imitated and a kiss on a ferris wheel is shared.
The pair discuss life and love, eventually spending the night with each other. The next day, the two part: each has a train or a plane to catch.
What would you do if you met the perfect person but were forced to bid them farewell a day later? Celine and Jesse’s homes are an ocean apart, not an impossible distance, but certainly enough to obstruct a possible relationship. Both make a promise to each other in their final minutes together – one that is tackled in the sequel, Before Sunset.
I’m not entirely sure how well I’ve sold Before Sunrise to you. If I’ve made it sound pathetically schmaltzy or like mental masturbation, I’ve clearly failed at my objective. All I can say is this: Linklater writes dialogue like no other director of his generation.
Few could have rendered a two-hour conversation between two ostensibly ordinary individuals electrifying. Forget the technicalities; through this masterclass in acting, Linklater proposes that cinema’s most powerful components are its cast and dialogue.
This is the picture every arthouse director longs to make. This is the picture every cynic cannot help but fall in love with. This is the picture you should be watching right now.
RIGHT NOW.
Stars - ★★★★★
By Rehan Alexander Mudannayake
Before Sunrise
(Drama - Romance)
A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one romantic evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.
Director: Richard Linklater
Writers: Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Andrea Eckert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v6X-Dytlko
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