Seize The Day

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2007)

Do you ever wonder how many people we meet in our lifetime? Not just the people whom we converse with, enjoy their company, absolutely loathe, and even the ones you wish you never knew. But the people we walk by, take a glance at, and stay on our path.
What if by some chance you stopped and actually struck up a conversation with one of them? Where would it lead you? It could be a dead end conversation that last no more than 30 seconds. It could encourage a heated conversation, argument, or just spontaneous chatter going off in all directions.
It could lead to a whirlwind romance that will change your life forever.
A man and a woman meet on a train for the first time and without even exchanging each others names they decide to spend the day together. Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise is that time spent by Jesse and Celine in Vienna. A chance meeting that would alter their lives in such a drastic way.
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is finishing up his tour of Europe and is a day away from a flight back home to the states leaving from Vienna. On the train to the city, he sees Celine (Julie Delpy) who is returning to Paris from visiting her Grandmother. Once "chit-chat" develops into a heartfelt conversation, the two realize that this is more than what it seems. There is a vibration between them that is more than the train car.
Jesse pops the question. Not "the question", but asking her if she would like to spend the day with him in Vienna. She thinks, and thinks, and grabs her things and the two walk off the train not knowing where they would end up going.
These two complete strangers decide to break off from their paths and go off into uncharted territory. They don't even ask each others names until they have stepped off the train. Those words passed down from parent to child through the generations forbidding children to talk to strangers must have slipped passed these two.
What is so radical and provocative is that they have no idea about the others background or intentions let alone their name. This train sequence could have been over dramatic and had the two linked somehow by a distant relative or were in the same high school and didn't even know it. Two different countries, one train car, two lives that would never be the same.
Linklater showcases the beauty and seduction of Vienna using a number of angles and techniques depending on the area. Fountains, bridges, river ways, and even the train cars have a romantic essence about them. It is the perfect setting for two strangers to go gallivanting about for a day to get a taste of a new foreign city, but more importantly to build up an everlasting friendship.
At first their day starts off awkward and almost turns into a big mistake. They overcome this through snappy and intelligent dialogue that isn't just about past memories of friendship and relationships. Linklater delves into the realm of how things work on a grander scale. God, dreams, love, and family all are thrown into perspective.
Can a relationship last a day? No. It can take place in a day but it lasts a lifetime. Jesse and Celine are forever together no matter what continent they live on. Before Sunrise is the time they have together until their departure. One day can fill up a lifetime of memories. Are you willing to try?