Review of Before Sunrise (1995) by Offworld_Colony — 19 Feb 2020

I've loved this film ever since I saw it as a young man approaching his 20's. It's a rich film unique only to certain filmmakers, such as Louis Malle with a simple but artistic vibe and insistence on a theatrical presentation of dialogue, character and subtext in the mise-en-scene.

Watching this as part of a trilogy and with an audience, the reaction was sublime, I felt I was among friends at a party, we all laughed throughout and I know I shed a few tears, perhaps at grieving the aching innocence of youth's love that I've lost, maybe at the purity of the characters and the bittersweetness of never seeing someone that you have a connection with ever again. Despite the fact that they did meet again (in Before Sunset), real life rarely gives us this.

It's a passionate and honest film with many hands of the same minds and the same love poured in to it. Every little flourish fleshes out a film brimming with life, perfect male-female observation and a timeless quality to the best meet cute film ever. I have previously rated all films in this series at variable levels but all at once they are, like LOTR trilogy, one perfect 10/10 film.