Aha - So This is Love

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2006)

That was the first thing that came into my mind just after i saw this film. They are right then - it's the greatest feeling of all. And it makes me a little bit sad because i once thought i was really in love too but it turns out that it was not a big deal at all - at least compared to the relationship between Jesse and Celine.
Of course i'm aware that such connection is actually really rare and it doesn't happen all the time and to everyone and yet it felt so real, especially compared to those idiotic Hollywood romantic comedies. The funny thing s that i think that "Befire Sunrise" is much more romantic than "You've Got Mail" for example. I find it even funnier that it's actually an American movie. But don't forget that it was shot in Europe.
Jesse is a young American who of course "don't speak any other languages" but is really charming and reminds of a Kerouac type of character, traveling around after a bitter break up with his girlfriend. Celine is french, also very charming, witty, sweet, vulnerable and a little bit neurotic and she is traveling to Paris where she studies in the Sorbonne. So they meet in the train to Vienna and after they talk for a while he persuades her to come with him and hang around the city. That's how one of the greatest love stories in the history of cinema begins(that's just my opinion of course).
Are they going to meet again after six months on 16 of December(my birthday actually). Are they going to get married, have children, grow old together and so on? You'll find out if watch the second part - "Before Sunset"(actually this sequel doesn't give all the answers but i assure you that it's simply great, maybe even better than the first film). And i assure you also that if you watch "Before Sunrise" and after a couple of days "Before Sunset", you'll have a great cinematic experience. I was really heartbroken after the end of the first film but you know - the ending can't be any other cause otherwise it could have become a standard American romantic movie, maybe not so dumb but not so great either. That was one of the very few movies when i was actually longing for a happy end. I was lucky that i saw it relatively late and i didn't have to Waite 9 years for the sequel.
What makes this film so great. Well first of all - Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are simply amazing. The scene at the listening booth, the scene at the cemetery, the ending - they could have received an Oscar for any of this scenes alone. The direction is superb - to watch two young people walking around and talking and yet to feel so compelled. The cinematography is also very good. The script - i don't have words to tell you how great it is. Along with the scenes mentioned above i would like to mention a couple more too - the scene with the bum who writes poetry, very fascinating as an idea; the scene in the morning where they dance on the street and then when they rest and he impersonates Dylan Thomas. Oh please watch this film...or don't...I don't know. It's amazing but it's not for everybody. Personally i thought it was great.