The weekend is here!!!

I was finally able to see the movie Before Sunrise today, thanks to Tejaswi (and his friend from Bangalore). The film is as good if not better than its sequel - Before Sunset (I seem to have this knack of getting to the sequels (of books or movies) before their prequels). Anyway, I had read the script quite some time back. But surprisingly this took away nothing from the actual experience of watching the movie.

Made in 1995 or thereabouts, the movie is about the chance...

Wait! Before you begin thinking that I am going to spoil the whole thing for you by giving away the story, right till the ending and all that, let me tell you one thing - the ending is but a small part of the whole movie, literally (considering a ratio of around 10 minutes to 100 minutes) and figuratively. The movie is more about the journey rather than the destination. So, read on.

...meeting of two people, Jesse (Ethan Hawke), an American and Celine (Julie Delpy), a French girl on a train from Budapest. Jesse is headed for Vienna from where he has to catch a flight the next morning back to America. Celine is going back to her home in Paris. They get talking & soon Jesse persuades Celine to get down with him at Vienna so that they can continue their conversation. Jesse with his spontaneity, cynical observations & rebellious nature and the emotional Celine, a firm believer in the God-is-in-the-details philosophy form an unlikely pair, as they roam through the streets of Vienna the whole day, talking all the while about subjects like life, love, relationships, God and so on. Their conversations form the central theme of the movie. Incidents like the impromptu poem composition, the palm reading session, even the atheist joke in the church serve to bring out the various shades of the characters' personalities. The movie ends with the two parting with a promise to meet in Vienna in 6 months time, followed by the camera showing the places visited by them, but with the difference that they seem subdued & much less lively without the loquacious pair.

Ethan Hawke's portrayal of the very American Jesse is superb. The pretty Julie Delpy, with her dulcet voice & an accent to match is a perfect fit for Celine's role. The chemistry between the two is to be seen to be believed. By the way, the story is supposed to be partly based on the director, Richard Linklater's chance meeting with an unknown woman in Philadelphia.