Review of Before Sunrise (1933) by Marc K — 28 Jun 2013

Who knew that strangers meeting on a train and walking around Vienna talking could be such an entertaining bit of escapism. With an unmatched realism, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy form an instant connection on a train to Vienna and take a leap of faith in spending the next 24 hours together.

With Hawke's character flying out the next day, there's a limit to their time together, which is often the subject of conversation. The conversations of undeniably intriguing and the candidness that both characters express remove the boundaries of subtly and open these characters up to not just one another but to the audience as well.

They're both young, they're both attractive, and you want their connection to thrive, even though we may not know what will happen tomorrow, we want them to be happy in the moment. We learn a lot about their hopes and dreams, pasts and projected futures, likes and dislikes, all things that could seem trivial but add up to a person's personality.

For sounding as sappy as it does, "Before Sunrise" avoids most romantic comedy cliches and delves into a much stronger connection, or pointing out these cliches and making them apart of the kitschy nature of the film.

Richard Linklater delivers a perfect look at love that we never knew we could enjoy in film form and makes us all want to embrace our personalities and start meeting random people on a train.