Before Sunrise

As usual, I was wide awake at midnight and decided to see if they have something interesting on TV (which unfortunately has only 4 channels in an understandable language), was surfing through channels and settled on one.....and chanced upon one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen......"Before Sunrise" starring Ethan Hawke (Jesse) and Julie Delpy (Celine). Romance...but very practical, possible that it might be totally unheard of....now I don't want to make this seem like a movie review...but I was so struck by the movie that I thought I just have to share this...

In general, in a movie, when a guy and girl meet, no matter how incompatible they may seem at first, the audience take it for granted that by the end, they would be head over heels in love and you just go ahead and watch the movie to see the process or else purely for ROI. Though that element was always present in this one, the rapport between Jesse and Celine is so lacking in artifice that the viewer is left feeling like he/she is anticipating something.

Jesse and Celine meet on a train travelling through Europe. Jesse's destination is Vienna where a flight back to America awaits him the next morning and Celine is headed towards Paris. They have a lively conversation over a meal and when the train reaches Vienna, Jesse persuades Celine to keep him company wandering around Vienna until the time comes for him to depart.

We have this set, preconceived notion that this is how a romance should be like, or this is what the conversation should be like, but here, "we are privvy to the sort of unimportant dialogue that most romance movies shy away from". This movie has so many poignant little scenes that the whole effect or end result is very intoxicating. As the saying goes "the whole is more than a sum of its parts". Topics ranging from love, life, reincarnation, religion to philosophy, etc are broached upon in a subtle manner and are then left hanging in the air for the viewer to ponder over almost like the delicate odour of a perfume in the air after it's user has long gone!!

Some of the topics and dialogues that really caught my attention are:

- Jesse at one point mocks love and the attraction one feels for a person by saying that humans have a tendency to put a "romantic projection" on everything we come across in life and upon close scrutiny, the bubble of romance breaks and our feet land firmly on the ground

- In a quiet moment at a church, where they discuss religion and beliefs, Jesse relates an experience where he accompanied a friend to the wedding of one who belongs to the Quaker Religion. There is absolute silence in the chapel, while the bride and groom sit staring into each other's eyes in the resonating silence waiting for God to talk to them, and finally, after about an hour or so of silence, they exchange vows and marry.

- Celine says she wants to be independent and not be someone who's life revolves around a man. But then, she recounts a conversation with a 52 yr old man who looks back at his life and realises that all he's been doing is working and working but sees no true meaning in it and no one to share his life with. Celine then says "Deep down inside all of us, we all want to love and be loved"

- Jesse "We are all each other's demons and angels"

...and a lot more...Celine is this independent, philosophical yet romantic girl who yearns for true love and Jesse is this cynical, practical, feet-firmly-planted-on-the-ground kind of guy who also, at the end of it all, yearns of, one day, becoming a good husband and father yet wonders if relationships are meant to last forever!!

...the unsaid things and feelings between them due to the obvious realisation that their relationship is practically impossible builds so much of this tension and anticipation between them that it's almost tangible... of which we are given just a glimpse!!

"Before Sunrise" is a definite must watch for those of you out there who care about such topics!! I suppose it has a sequel as well "Before Sunset"!!

Love could happen when one least expects it!!!! Happy watching!!