Before the Cameras

Rating: 9/10 (2 September 2013)

Lucky me. A couple of months ago, I got to experience the entire BEFORE trilogy and not have to wait 18 years to reach the (possible) end.
When Before Midnight was released in summer 2013, I had a full day of BEFORE movies and was pleasantly pleased.
The first, Before Sunrise, is the only one I'd seen before. A long, long time ago. I really did like it back then, and with this second viewing, I still admired it and loved how it holds up today, 18-years-later. I absolutely loved the dialogue, the originality and especially the camera following these two strangers who were destined to be with each other.
The movie starts with the unlikely pairing of an American on holiday in Europe who meets his instant attraction, a French student. Both are on a train, but with different stops and yet, he convinces her to debark with him in Vienna. For one solid day/evening/morning, they literally walk and talk and get to know each other. Of course, they fall in love – so much so, that the "lust" they thought they knew was relevant at first, wasn't that at all. These two were meant to be together.
It takes balls for Director and Writer Richard Linklater to pull off a 105 minute movie based solely on walking and talking and only truly starring two unknowns, buthe pulled it off. The dialogue was crisp, the connection and charisma was present and the originality of such a basic, yet deep, film was refreshing.
People in real life only dream about this kind of chance encounter. This may be fantasy, but it's one that many, including myself, would yearn our whole lives for. If you don't get the sense of true love, true connection and true meaning upon the finale of this film, you might want to restart the film.
I did laugh, I did admire and I did fall in love with these two. I even loved the ambiguous climax. This was a love story that you'd love to read in a great novel and cherish every moment.
Finally, I loved the simplicity of this film. Kudos to Linklater for such a great experiment that worked. If there were no sequels, which are certainly very good on their own, I would be okay with how this movie can stand alone.