After watching it

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2016)

The "Before" trilogy is beautiful. I'm singling this one out because it's the starting point (despite not being my favourite, that honour would go to 'sunset'). Regardless whether watched as a trilogy or stood alone, this film explores young-adult relationships in such an honest way that you can't help falling in love with the characters.
I found myself connecting with Celine (Julie Delpy) more than Hawke's Jesse, I almost found him insufferable at times. But this isn't because he was annoying or irrational or stupid, I simply found myself disagreeing with his point of view some of the time. And although this seems like some indictment on the quality of the film, this is far from the case. The film managed to suck me into the world so well that I questioned and pondered the points of views of the characters themselves rather than words of writers. And this couldn't, I believe, have been done without the master that is Linklater, able to craft these long takes of just talking; somehow keeping it captivating never letting my interest wane. The conversations were natural, almost seemingly improvised.
The film is so honest, it lets the characters disagree, without superficially hyping up the drama, or putting a neat resolution on subtle disagreements. the awkward moments are on display just as much as the magical and romantic ones, and once again all without seeming artificial. I don't even see any point in describing the plot because that loses the element of spontaneity. But don't get me wrong the film isn't perfect, it has the occasional contrivances and maybe a more sentimental ending than I had hoped for, that is either helped or hindered by the awareness of a sequel. But do watch the sequel its even more interesting. But for now watch this, this film pure and beautiful film-making.