Love Before Sunrise (1995) 8.7 out of 10
Directed by Richard Linklater
Written by Richard Linklater / Kim Clethan
Starring Ethan Hawke / Julie Delpy
Release Date: 1995-01-27
Length: 105 mins
Aka: Half a Day's Love (HK) / Love at Dawn (Taiwan) / Before Sunrise
(Q&A on the Bus)
Man: That's one of the ideas I had on the train. Okay, do you believe in regeneration?
WOMAN: Yes, I believe. That's funny.
Male: A lot of people talk about past lives and events like that. You know? Even if they don't believe in some particular form of regeneration, they feel that there are immortal souls. Isn't that right?
Female: Yes.
Male: Okay, here's what I think: 50,000 years ago, there were less than a million people, and 10,000 years ago, there were maybe two million people. Now there are five or six billion people on the planet. If we all have our own, individual, unique souls, where do they come from? Is the modern soul just a part of the original soul? If so, then a modern soul is one part in 5,000 of an ancient soul. In the last 50,000 years, which is only a small part of the earth's history, we happen to be a tiny part of the souls of the past; is this the reason for our eccentricity? Is that what makes us unique?
Female: Wait, I can't be sure
Male: Oh, I know, I know, it's totally wacky thinking. That's what makes it interesting.
(Walking down the street and talking)
Female: The year you were born doesn't matter. Look at my parents, they were the angry, young May '68 generation against the government and the government's conservative Catholic background. That's when I was born and my father became a successful architect. We traveled around the world while he built bridges, towers, and that sort of thing. I mean, you know, I really had nothing to complain about, they loved me more than anything, and I grew up in the freedom that they fought for. And now, for me, there's another struggle. We face the same kinds of bullshit, but we may not know who the enemy is.
M: I don't know if there really is such an enemy. Parents screw up their children. Rich kids, parents give too much, poor kids, parents give too little. Too much attention, too little attention. They either don't care or they teach blindly. My parents were two people who didn't love each other, who got married and had children, and did their best to be nice to me.
(Cafe simulation of calling a friend)
Man: Why did you get off?
WOMAN: Oh, he convinced me. I mean, actually, after talking to him, I was ready to get off the train with him. He was so charming, I couldn't help myself. In the dining car, he started talking about his childhood when he saw his grandmother's soul and I think that's when I fell in love with him. These little boy thoughts and beautiful dreams and he captured my heart. He was so cute. He has mesmerizing blue eyes, pretty pink lips, greasy hair, and I love it. He's a little tall and a little awkward. I love how he quietly looks at me when I look away. He kisses me like an adult.
(Nighttime sleepover in the grass, they lie on the grass)
Female: I often share good moments with others, like traveling, having a fun all-nighter or watching the sunrise. I know they are special moments, but there is always something missing. I want to be with another person. I know exactly how I feel about something so important to me and they don't understand. But I'm happy to be with you and you don't understand why a night like this is so important to my life right now, but it is. It was a wonderful morning.
Male: It's a wonderful morning.
WOMAN: Do you think we'll ever have a morning like this again?
M: Yes.
(Still lying on the grass)
Male: Let's talk about how you've lived with me all your life. You start to hate my mannerisms, our dusty treats. I would get restless, I would drink to excess. Or, when I tell the same stupid, posing as witty stories over and over again, you think, I've heard them all before. So of course I hate myself. But being with you makes me feel like I'm someone else. I mean, the only other way to get over yourself like that, you know, is to dance, drink, do drugs and things like that.
Woman: having sex
Man: Having sex, yeah. That's one way.
Female: You know what I'm wanting?
Male: What?
Woman: to be kissed.
Male: Oh, that I can do.
(The two kiss)
(Under the statue in the fountain square, the hero sits and the heroine lies on the hero's lap)
WOMAN: When you talked earlier about how after a couple of years a couple can start to get annoyed with each other, anticipate each other's reactions, and get tired of each other's mannerisms. I think it's the opposite for me. I think I really fall in love when I know everything about a person. How he parted his hair, which shirt he wore on which day, knowing exactly which story he would tell on a certain occasion, when I knew all of that, I was sure I was truly in love.
(Resuming the sidewalk conversation)
Female: I mean, being a strong and independent adult woman, not a do-gooder, always made me feel pressured. My whole life revolves around certain men, but loving certain men. Being loved is important to me. I always make fun of it, but isn't the whole point of our lives to be loved more?
Man: I don't know. Sometimes I dream of being a good father and husband, and sometimes it feels easy to do, but sometimes it feels silly, as if it will ruin my whole life. It's not just fear of commitment, or my inability to care and love. It's simply that, if I'm completely honest with myself, I think I'd rather die than be in a friendly, caring relationship knowing what I'm really good at, and that I excel at it.
Female: I once worked for an older man, and once he told me he had devoted his entire life to his career. He was 52 years old and he suddenly realized that he had never given himself anything, that he had lived without doing anything for anyone. He said it almost in tears. I believe that if there is a God, it is not in us, not in you or me, but only between people. If there are any miracles in the world, they must be in trying to understand others and share them with others. I realize that it is almost impossible to succeed. Who really cares about that? The answer is in the trying.
FILM FILE
Love at Sunset Before Sunset (2004) 8.7 out of 10
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Written by: Richard Linklater / Julie Delpé / Ethan Hawke / Kim Krisan
Starring: Ethan Hawke / Julie Delpé
Release Date: 2004-07-02
Length: 80 mins
Subtitle: Sunset in Paris (Hong Kong) / Love at Sunset in Paris (Taiwan) / Before the Sunset / When Love Stays in Love
Male: Jesse (Ethan Hawke)
Lady: Céline (Julie Delpy)
(Céline and Jesse on a boat). line and Jesse on the boat)
Céline: I'm glad you said that because...
I'm happy you're saying that,because....
I mean, I always feel like a freak becauseI'm never able to move on like this:
I mean, I feel like a freak becauseI'm never able to move on like this...
People just have an affair... or even entire relationships....
People just have an affair or even entire relationships...
People just have an affair ,or even entire relationships.... .they break up and they forget.
... . they break up and they forget.
They move on like they would havechanged brand of cereals.
It's as easy as changing to another brand of cereal.
I feel I was never able to forgetanyone I' ve been with...
I feel I was never able to forgetanyone I've been with. .because each person had their ownspecific qualities.
... . because each person had their ownspecific qualities.
You can never replace anyone.What is lost is lost.
Each relationship, when it ends,really damages me.
Each relationship, when it ends,really damages me.I never fully recover.
That's why I'm very carefulwith getting involved...
That's why I'm very carefulwith getting involved...
That's why I try to avoid getting involved in relationships
.... .because it hurts too much.
... . because it hurts too much!
Even having sex!
Even getting laid,I actually don't do that...
.. .because I will miss of the personthe most mundane things.
Because I will miss of the personthe most mundane things.
Like those details
Like I'm obsessed with little things.
Maybe I'm crazy,but when I was a little girl...
Or maybe I'm crazy,but when I was a little girl...
... .my mom told methat I was always late to school.
My mom told me I was always late to school.
One day she followed me to see why.
One day she followed me to see why.
I was watching the chestnuts fall from the tree and roll down the sidewalk.
I was looking at chestnuts falling fromthe trees, rolling on the sidewalk....
...
... or ants crossing the road, leaves reflecting on the trunk
.... .or ants crossing the road, the waya leaf casts a shadow on a tree trunk...
Little things.
I think it's the same with people.
I think it's the same with people.
I see in them little details,so specific to each of them....
... . the details that move me and then I miss them, all the time
.... .that move me and that I missand will always miss.
You can never replace anyone...
You can never replace anyone
.... .because everyone is made of suchbeautiful, specific details.
Because everyone has his kind ofbeautiful, specific details.