Brilliant

Rating: Null/10 (5 December 2004)

I attempted to see this movie in 1994; however, I was in high school and just lost interest within the first 20 minutes. Then the sequel came out and so I rented Before Sunrise, not only to understand the characters background, but also to give this movie another chance. It's kind of like when I was 7 and my older cousin took me to see The Breakfast Club. I had no idea what the dialogue meant and really was there because she wanted to see it. Naturally I was a good kid and fell asleep rather than fussing. Now, I love Breakfast Club. Anyhow, it's nine years later and I watched both Before Sunrise and After Sunset back to back. The characters completely drew me in as I reminisced about being young and in love, growing up and leaving people behind. It's so haunting and sad yet beautiful. This movie is brilliant because we live in a world where communication and finding lost friends is at our fingertips. Jesse did it by writing a book to find her, however, we all think about old friends and what they might be doing now. We can just find them on the internet and email them. I think we all wonder if we can pick up where we left off with these people. Would this mean that it was true love or true friendship? Do we base that on how well we connect with people? Sure, I do. In the movie, I listened to every word they exchanged. At this point, I loved that it was made and that I got a chance to discover it after 9 years. I was moved at the end but not as sad because I also had the sequel to watch. I knew it didn't leave me hanging like it did for most of the audiences who watched it years ago and thought, "what happened to them"? I wonder how I would have felt if I watched the entire movie back in 1994? Would I have cared about these characters as much as I do today?
I think this movie will remind people of their youth and how life changes them. I think this story (along with the sequel) will touch people somehow someway.