i luv cinema

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • 100 “Must-See”
  • About Me
Home Reviews Before Sunrise/Sunset Double Feature

June 27, 2011 By iluvcinema 5 Comments

Before Sunrise/Sunset Double Feature

 

What I found interesting about the Before Sunrise/set was the different tracks each film took – first part sweetly romantic the second part a bit more cynical. In spite of this each installment of the Richard Linklater-helmed films was markedly understated in its delivery. It would not have worked any other way.

In “Before Sunrise” we are introduced to two characters who are embarking on a journey – both literally and figuratively. Through their esoteric philosophical debates on this journey, I was left with the sense that these are two people trying to find there place in the world and understand what it all means. Along the way they find each other and in each other find what they feel like are kindred souls. At the conclusion of “Before Sunrise,” we are left with some ambiguity about their respective futures, and whether they be together or apart.

Fast-forward nearly a decade later and in “Before Sunset” the bloom has definitely gone off the rose and what we encounter are two people very much involved in the world having to deal with what I think are typical dilemmas that accompany being thirty-somethings (at least I think so). The questions left at the conclusion of “Before Sunrise” are eventually answered and new questions are raised (What if her grandmother did not die? And more immediately pressing, will he make his train?).

At times (especially in “Before Sunrise”) I felt disconnected from some of the “meaning of life” dialogue, but not so much as to alienate me from the films. I think I was too caught up in the romance and chemistry of the two leads.

To ask me which one of the movies I prefer is very hard question for me to answer. I definitely related to some of the weighty, “angsty” issues dealt with in “Before Sunrise,” but I have to admit that I really loved the relaxed nature and brisk movement of “Before Sunset.” At times I did not feel like I was watching a film at all but rather was an invisible, silent third member of a conversation between two people.

Both films share the thread of the wonder we encounter as we pass through life, the people we meet and what it all means in the end.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: before sunrise, before sunset, ethan hawke, julie delpy, paris, richard linklater, romantic drama, vienna

Comments

  1. ruth says

    June 29, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    I have only seen Before Sunset and I thought it was a well-made rom-com. Haven’t got around to seeing the second one but I might do that one of these days.

    Reply
  2. iluvcinema says

    June 29, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    @ruth you will be surprised by how fast Sunset goes by. In spite of this you do not feel like you have missed anything.

    Reply
  3. M. Carter @ the Movies says

    July 14, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    Even though I was at the right age in the right era to see these, somehow I never got around to it. I suppose I need to, though, since most people my age (30) consider it part of their youth.

    Reply
  4. iluvcinema says

    July 14, 2011 at 5:17 pm

    @yeah sunrise would have been interesting to see when I was in my 20s. But it is also something to look back at and think to oneself “hey I used to think like that (at least on some level).” I think that the two films succeeded at capturing that the romanticism of our youth followed by some of the cynicism and disillusionment we encounter as we approach middle age. No one told me it would happen so fast!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Tribeca 2013 Preview: 3 to See — i luv cinema says:
    April 17, 2013 at 3:58 am

    […] Midnight is by all accounts the third and final installment to the love story that began 18 years ago during a chance encounter on a Vienna-bound train. It is poignant look at […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Search

Recommended Read

Captain of Her Own Soul

UC Press

Added to My Video Library

Imitation of Life (1934)

Centers of Film Study

  • JBFC
  • MoMA Film Screenings
  • The Picture House
  • University of California Press (Cinema and Media Texts)

Fast Film Resources

  • Alfred Hitchcock Wiki
  • Alfred Hitchcock-Master of Suspense
  • Film | The Guardian
  • Kermode & Mayo's Film Reviews
  • Park Circus
  • Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Internet Movie Database
  • Tribeca Film

Film Societies

  • BAMcinématek
  • Film Society of Lincoln Center

This is How We Blogroll

  • BBC Film: The Bulletin
  • Cinematic Corner
  • Comet Over Hollywood
  • Critical Women on Film
  • FlixChatter
  • Future of Flim (Tribeca Film Blog)
  • in so many words …
  • Kermode's Film Blog
  • Paula's Cinema Club
  • Roger Ebert
  • Sobriety Test Movie Reviews
  • Superhero Movie Talk
  • Sweet Freedom

Archives

Tweets by @iluvcinema
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact iluvcinema
totalfilm600movieblogs

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023, iluvcinema ·Streamline Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in