Pleasantly surprised! Highly recommended

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2014)

With so many previous reviews already published about this absolute *gem* of a movie from 1995, I will keep my own comments purposefully short.
I must confess that I had effectively ignored this film (and also it's two sequels) for many years, having made the classic mistake of "Judging a book by it's cover". Based on the title(s) and personnel involved, I had filed Before Sunrise as a sugar-sweet "Romantic Comedy" - and with not being a fan of such genres, chose to not bother with watching it. Big mistake!
Of course, over the course of the film's (short) duration, there *is* romance and also some comedic scenes and lines of dialogue. However, both are handled in such an expert, "low-key"/subtle manner by the cast, director and cinematographer that at no point did this film annoy me (when again I must concede I felt for certain that it would...).
Another reason for previously giving this one a miss was Richard Linklater - a director who I have not encountered often, but I could recall struggling with the likes of "Waking Life" - and "Tape" in particular (I film that I should perhaps now revisit... but at the time felt highly irritated by - sorry, Richard...).
Having now taken the plunge and watched all three of the "Before..." trilogy, I cannot recommend them highly enough! I think overall I would say the first part/"chapter" is my favourite - but all three proved to be highly entertaining - mostly as a direct result of the amazing on-screen chemistry between Delpy and Hawke (quite how those two are not a real-life couple is beyond me - so natural are the performances that they give.
In fact, at times I almost felt like a voyeur (of sorts) - hanging out with the couple as they meander the streets of Paris (without them being aware)! This is again due to Linklater's superb direction and "up close" involvement you end up having in each and every scene.
Sorry for the ramble.. but I suppose the two main points I would like to end on would be:
1) Never EVER judge a book (or in this case *film*) by it's cover - and:
2) If (like me) you have previously avoided this series of films, GIVE THEM A TRY. I will be very surprised if you dislike them.
Nine Out Of Ten.
-John