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Boy meets girl, boy says goodbye to girl 12 hours later

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Pulling off a successful romantic drama is not easy, what with audience expectations for Harlequin romance novel-esque wooing, torrid sex scenes and formulaic interplays between stock characters. "Before Sunrise" is a refreshing exception to that formula. The following are group observations about this distinctive film:

WHAT CAUGHT YOU BY SURPRISE ABOUT THIS MOVIE, ESPEICALLY FOR A ROMANTIC DRAMA?
·       The plot is threadbare—very little happens; instead of turning to a proven (if not overused) formula, the filmmakers bank on two interesting personalities and well-written conversation.
·       This film isn’t limited in its appeal to Gen Xers only: The issues and questions these young twentysomethings discuss are actually evergreen and relevant to adult couples of almost any age.
·       The filmmakers aren’t trying to pull a melodramatic emotional manipulation or trick you with some heavy-handed twist at the end. As Roger Ebert summarized: “There is no hidden agenda in this movie. There will be no betrayals, melodrama, phony violence, or fancy choreography in sex scenes.”
·       Speaking of which, there really is no sex, which is quite amazing when you consider that almost all movies of this ilk eventually include a bedding down scene as well as real or suggested nudity.
·       The dialogue feels realistic and authentic, as evidenced by its occasional stream-of-consciousness direction, focus on mundane as well as momentous, philosophical matters, and lack of florid, overscripted language and one-liners/catch phrases.
·       The film is set in naturally picturesque and colorful Vienna, but it doesn’t try to romanticize that city or use it as a travelogue-like backdrop where the characters “naturally have to fall in love because they’re surrounded by so much beauty.” In other words, the filmmakers don’t try to exploit the fact that it’s set in a foreign city and use its famous landmarks, art and architecture to oversentimentalize or color its characters or situations.
·       It’s also rated “R”, despite the fact that there is no nudity or violence, and only sparse profanity. That’s too bad, as it limited its original theatrical run audience to adults only, when teenagers could have certainly enjoyed and learned from this picture.
·       The director doesn’t try to be flashy or artsy-fartsy by going for complicated setups, experimental framing or elaborate camera movement or editing choices. Instead, Richard Linklater and crew keep the proceedings simple in terms of shots, edits, and camera placement. In fact, he utilizes many an extended take (including what feels like an uninterrupted eight-minute shot on the bus) that lets the characters do the heavy lifting and allows us to linger longer on them and perceive any would-be chemistry without excessive editing manipulation.
·       Like other Linklater films, including “Dazed and Confused,” this story takes place in one day, without giving us the benefit of a prologue, epilogue or flashbacks. We also don’t know if they’re ever going to meet again by the conclusion (although now, 19 years later, we are aware that there have been 2 sequels in which they do meet again).

WHAT ARE THE NECESSARY INGREDIENTS FOR THIS FILM TO WORK AS WELL AS IT DOES?
·       It’s a film that relies primarily on good casting, good performances and good dialogue, as very little in the way of action or plot happens.
·       According to film reviewer James Berardinelli, “for this film to work, (Hawke and Delpy) have a threefold task: embrace their characters; attract each other; and connect with the audience.”
·       The success of this film, because it is so reliant on its two main characters to captivate us, is for the director and his crew to get out of the way and let the actors do the work, as aforementioned.
·       Because we need to believe in the dialogue and find it credible, the writing required a balanced approach from a man and a woman; hence, Linklater enlisted the aid of female screenwriter Kim Krizan, who especially helped with Celine’s lines. Written entirely by a man, this film may not have felt as plausible.
·       An appropriate musical score that isn’t too heavy on the melodramatic tone and which allows the characters to telegraph how we should react.

WHAT THEMES ARE EXAMINED IN “BEFORE SUNRISE”?
·       Discovering yourself through the eyes of another person.
·       The fleeting nature of existence and relationships: the 12-hours in which the characters are limited in their time together underscores how quickly life goes by and how fast an opportunity can pass.
·       Adapting to one’s limited environment and acting uninhibitedly in spite of these limitations: both Celine and Jesse decide on the spur of the moment to depart the train and forget their rules and restrictions.
·       The unpredictable nature of fate vs. happenchance: were Celine and Jesse destined to cross paths like star-crossed lovers, or was this just a random event that won’t mean much in the long run?

WHAT OTHER FILMS DOES “BEFORE SUNRISE” REMIND YOU OF?
·       “Brief Encounter”
·       “An Affair to Remember”
·       Vincente Minnelli’s “The Clock”
·       “Lost in Translation”
·       Many of the films of dialogue-driven romance films of Woody Allen, including “Annie Hall” and “Manhattan.”
·       “Chungking Express”
·       “My Dinner With Andre”

OTHER FILMS BY RICHARD LINKLATER
·       1991 Slacker
·       1993 Dazed and Confused
·       1996 SubUrbia
·       2003 School of Rock
·       2004 Before Sunset
·       2013 Before Midnight 

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