BEFORE SUNRISE 1995
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
3 :-( :-( :-( for talk, talk, talk, sex, talk.
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy Director: Richard Linklater Producer: Anne Walker-McBay Screenplay: Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan Cinematography: Lee Daniel
An American boy meets a French girl on a train in Vienna. They 'connect' and decide that they must do several things before sunrise.
Talk a lot. Childhood dreams. Grandmother's ghosts. Visit a graveyard. Smile and laugh. Watch a birth dance performed by a non pregnant woman. Men vs. women. Read a love poem. Dance at a night club. Change scenery on numerous occasion (train, bridge, park, fountain, side street, river, back to the train) to give their romantic chit chat some dimension.
More talk.
Now for something to help pass the time. The Time's special edition on Princess Di looks interesting. Could it really be a conspiracy to escape media attention when there's a body in the casket already?
They're still talking.
Now for a cup of Milo, and a browse through the sports results on the US open. I say Chang in five come Sunday.
They're still taking.
The article on Type I insulin diabetes mellitus looks interesting in this months issue of 'Current Therapeutics'. Now if they could only prevent the destruction of those beta islet cells.
They're shagging in the park.
My goodness they're shagging in the park. When did this eventuate with so much conversation? REWIND.
Yep. They sure are shagging in the park. Something about how she doesn't want a one night stand, so he doesn't force the issue. She wants it to be meaningful, so he pretends to understand by leaning over her. She tries hard to resist, but we now she's playing a game, so they do it. The proof - lots of rolling about on the grass, and the next morning she's topless (singlet gone but dress still there).
Gosh. How very shallow. So much focus on conversation and relationship building, then a sudden burst of eroticism. It's not as if the viewers paid to watch a movie called 'Before Sunrise' just so they could see two kids jerk off. Honestly, whoever wrote this silly script, why bother going to such enormous lengths to build intellectual companionship (which will deepen with time), and then confuse the issues with a single night of gratuitous sex in the park? Believe me, no one talks as intelligently or fluently as this unless they've memorised a script.
Anyway, Ethan Hawke's goatee is annoying and sleazy. The French girl giggles and laughs like a French Girl. Some sensible advice. This boy and girl should not be wandering the streets of Vienna at such a late hour; but be sound asleep under the watchful eyes of their parents. Silly romantic notions like this movie suggest, will only lead to a longer list of missing persons on the trans-continental Eurorails.
Comment: Clearly a woman's movie.
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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