before sunrise (with the gosh darn spoiler, but read it anyway, you'll see)

Rating: Null/10 (30 January 2005)

What can I possibly say about "Before Sunrise"? It was a great film? It was realistic film? It was a genuinely romantic film? These descriptions may all be true in the broadest sense, but to truly describe the film I would need to cover every moment in ultra-descriptive detail. Unlike most other films that waste the majority of their time in building up to yet more wasted time, "Before Sunrise" keeps every scene within its own skin, a moment to be cherished. This would be why writing a review (with all its broad descriptions) on the film is nearly impossible. Not only does the audience know the hardly describable intimacy of each moment, but so do Jess and Celine, the lovebird protagonists of the film. Just as we do, they do not want the night to end, or the climax to ever come. This is in direct contrast to the climax-pushing plots of most films.
The simple plot line revolves around the aforementioned Jess and Celine meeting on a train and proceeding to spend a night wandering the streets of Vienna. And that is it, two people falling in love in natural time. This device strips down all movie pretense and confronts love directly, honestly, and, in all sincerity, beautifully. At the end, they part ways, promising to meet again in six months, at the same train stop in Vienna. I feel safe mentioning this because what they do afterwards (or even how the plot is involved in the moment) is not really important, it is the moment that matters.
Rather then feeling gypped at the end, we feel satisfied knowing that although the story is over, as the couple have parted company, we have spent a night together with these characters, just as the characters have done themselves. What they and we have left are our memories of each other.
Thanks for the memories "Before Sunrise".