An enthralling romance

Rating: 10/10 (22 June 2013)

I discovered this film soon after its video release on a movie channel one early morning in my mid-teens. More of an action or comedy or action comedy type movie fan at that time, Before Sunrise planted the seeds of my incurable romanticism. My every viewing reaffirms a naturalistic charm that has not and will not wane. I do not go for naturalism invariably. For instance, John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence. No thank you. Not my scene. But my what refreshing naturalism in this trilogy, even when to the point of awkwardness. A very big thanks to Richard Linklater for fleshing out this absolute gem of a film. Very wise of him too to co-write it with a woman, Kim Krizan. Though uncredited, it is worth noting that Delpy and Hawke each had a hand in rewriting this film with Linklater.
Knowing from my own experience how easy it is to meet people on trains, I marvel at the thought of how many real life variations there have been and will be of this story. By a most auspicious concatenation of circumstances, Ethan Hawke's Jesse and Julie Delpy's Celine find themselves sitting across from one another on a train from Budapest. They get to talking and detrain in Vienna after some clever convincing from gumptious Jesse. He is to fly back to the US in the morning, while she can spare the time before continuing on home to Paris.
They roam about the city together feeling as if in a mutual "dream world" removed from the ordinary flow of life, all the while engaged in a stream of consciousness dialogue that could lead one to construe them both as self-indulgent; however, that would be a fruitless interpretation. Voluble they may be, but they are sincerely striving for enlightenment individually and mutually. We are social creatures, and though they need not necessarily be romantic relationships, we only really know ourselves in relation to others. Before Sunrise is all about the exhilaration of really meeting and connecting with someone, an experience certainly heightened here by the sexual element. The listening booth scene strikes a deep chord with me in this regard: innocently stealing glances while playing Kath Bloom's "Come Here" (an excellent song choice), it is their first instance of sexual tension, and moreover, the body language is to be appreciated, as it will be throughout the trilogy.
As for the other characters, the part-time actors (played by Karl Bruckschwaiger and Tex Rubinowitz) amuse as they describe their play translated as "Bring Me the Horns of Wilmington's Cow." Fortunately given a miss. I like the inclusion of the palm reader (played by Erni Mangold) who imparts her own intrapersonal/interpersonal advice. I especially like the street poet (played by Dominik Castell) whose poem ("Delusion Angel" written by David Jewell) likewise concerns a world out of one's control and the value of a real connection with someone. Both interactions present a sardonic Jesse complemented by a more trustful Celine.
In the poignant final montage we look at now familiar locations minus the protagonists, and I for one get the sense of a strikingly indifferent universe. We have seen the "see you in six months" thing in Love Affair of 1939 and its 1957 remake An Affair to Remember (good films to my mind), but this trilogy makes a World Series winning grand slam home run of it. Too inexperienced to really grasp the rarity of their connection, they opt not to exchange contact information so as to avoid a fizzling out of the relationship. It begs for a sequel if ever a film did.
For all the convoluted brilliance of Before Sunset and Before Midnight, those films ultimately capture the spirit of this one. Celine summed up the essence of Before Sunrise and the trilogy with these lines bettered by nothing in cinema: "You know, I believe if there's any kind of God, it wouldn't be in any of us, not you or me, but just this little space in between. If there's any kind of magic in this world, it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt."