A romance film with a thinking brain

Rating: Null/10 (1 October 2018)

Two young people are travelling in Europe. They happen to meet on a train and decide to get off at Vienna to spend a day together before travelling back to their individual homes. This movie is pretty much that one evening and night they spend together.
Sounds like a pretty typical romantic drama or comedy, doesn't it? And yes, to a certain degree I agree. A few things set it apart from the rest, though. First, the age of the two leads. At least in my opinion these movies are usually about teenagers or about people in their thirties or late twenties. But these two are in their early twenties, barely at that. They're adults, but only just about. And that is reflected in their characters very well. I can easily imagine that I was just like this five to seven years ago. Being more comfortable in your skin than you were during your adolescence, but still unsure about the world and your place in it. Starting to get an idea about what you think about the world, what kind of a person you are, but still deep down very undecided about anything.
Secondly, I do admire the fact that these two are most interested in the personalities of each other. The film is laden with dialogue for a reason. It's mostly them getting to know one another, talking just about anything. There are certainly romantic scenes, but even they're rather talkative. And these are good talks. Once again, their age is reflected very well in how they talk and what they talk about.
Full compliments to Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as well. They play their characters beautifully. Sure, Hawke's character is a bit cocky for my taste, but he's not a bad kid by any means. Just a bit full of himself. Then again, I do have to admit that I probably was as well at that age.
Before Sunrise is a nice breath of fresh air. A romantic drama where the attraction comes from the mind and not just from the fact that they're two ridiculously good-looking people.