(I originally wrote this on 1/26 in a coffee shop. At the time I was hesitant to post it because I felt it got a little too personal near the end. Thanks to some editing (and the fact that I’m posting whatever I feel like nowadays) I’ve decided to finally present it. These are two movies that you must see.)
Generation X does not deal well with romance. It is an emotion that few of us have in our personal toolbox. Maybe it is because of our growing up in a post-Watergate, post-Disco, cold war world. It’s difficult to have a passion for anything much less anyone when the world around you is gray. Or maybe it is the oft-quoted 50% divorce rate. Odds are one side of the relationship grew up with a first hand knowledge of what happens in real relationships. So, on the whole we do not do romance. More out of the fear of the unknown than anything.
That is why the films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are such a wonder. Richard Linklatter has created the romantic movies for Generation X. And these films are definitely aimed at a certain audience. The characters are of a particular time and a particular age (which ties to mine exactly) and they are real characters in a way that makes you want to meet them in a coffee shop someday.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. First, a brief plot synopsis. College student Jesse (played adequately by Ethan Hawke) is on a train to Vienna, preparing to fly back to the States the next day. On the train he strikes up a conversation with Celine (played by the ethereal Julie Delpy). As the train reaches Vienna he convinces Celine to get off the train and spend the rest of the day with him wandering the town. The film consists of the two characters walking and talking and connecting and falling for each other. The movie ends with Celine getting back on the train and both promising to meet on the same platform six months later. Before Sunset moves us nine years in the future as Jesse is in Paris on a book tour and meets Celine.
Very simple and very basic but it stays with you. I mean, we have all had chance encounters, started talking to someone and felt an immediate connection. I don’t care how cynical you are, there is someone in your past that you knew for too brief of a time and would give anything to meet again and that is what these movies are about. That meeting, that connection and that aftermath.
The movies are almost entirely dialogue (except for two vital scenes in each movie, which I’ll touch upon later.) There’s a tendency to think that this could turn into talking for talking sakes, like in a Kevin Smith movie. But the conversations are real. I’ve had these conversations. I’ve talked about relationships and finding meaning in the world and wanting to change it. Hell, that’s 90% of the blog (along with ripping on KC).
But even though these thoughts may be universal, the way they talk about it is entirely Gen X. Only we are introspective enough to have chance meetings turn into philosophical discussions. We’re the group who looks beyond the surface. Maybe not always acting on it, but the concern is there.
At the end of the day, the movies are about relationships and how they change as you get older. When you’re young you think that you can always meet someone else, that there are thousands of connections to be made. But when you get older you realize how few of those connections exist.
While Before Sunrise can be viewed as a romantic fantasy, Before Sunset is real. The characters have aged, visibly and otherwise. Jesse’s married (unhappily) with a child. Celine has bounced from bad relationship to bad relationship. Both would be considered successful but neither is living the life they dreamed of nine years ago when they walked through Vienna. Life is messy and unsatisfying at times. I’m not sure that you’d find too many people who would disagree with that sentiment. And the film does an amazing job of showing the characters moving from their fantasized view of each other to reality.
But there are really two reasons why I am such a fan of these two movies (and Before Sunset in particular). The first is my fandom of Julie Delpy, which has been well noted. It really is a shame that she isn’t better known since she’s incredibly talented. In Celine, she portrays an intelligent, independent woman who is plagued by doubts. An introspective and neurotic person who is more in tune with what is important in life than everyone around her. She hits all the small nuances of the character. There is a brilliant scene in Sunset where she reaches out to Jesse but pulls back at the last second. That motion is more powerful than the hour of dialogue that proceeded it. In this one film, Julie presents a character who is everything I am looking for in life: intelligent, funny, somewhat neurotic, caring, stunningly beautiful, and she just happens to play guitar. And that’s more than enough to make me love the movie.
But that’s not the only reason…
Like I said earlier, everyone has had these random encounters and as I was watching Ethan Hawke in Sunset it was as if I was watching scenes that I have played in my mind for years suddenly appearing on screen. As I’ve mentioned before, when I was 16 I promised a girl that I would dedicate my first novel to her. A girl who by my estimate I spent a grand total of 17 days with. Someone who I swear that if we ran into each other on the street tomorrow we would act as if the past decade had not occurred. So, here is Jesse on a book tour having written a novel based on his night in Vienna. And as he says “I think I wrote the book hoping that you would read it and meet me.” And it worked.
That’s why I write. Ok, it’s not the only reason, but it’s in the top five. There is still a part of me that hopes that somehow, someday, she’ll find my book in some neglected corner of a bookstore and recognize the name. Sure, it’s a silly, romantic notion. It’s a million to one shot. But million to one shots happen six thousand times a day on this planet.
So the movie Before Sunset is my dream come to life. And it ends with you wondering what happens next. Is there a better metaphor?
The five random CDs for the week (oh, and Microsoft, random number generator my ass. I’ve got two of the same artists as last week)
1) Loreena McKennitt “The Mask and the Mirror”
2) Old 97’s “Early Tracks”
3) The Smithereens “11”
4) The Saw Doctors “Sing a Powerful Song”
5) Tiny Town “Tiny Town”
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