Sunrise, Sunset
A now to be expected "unexpected" cancellation of a lecture allowed me the time to take advantage of $10 B-grade movie tickets on a Friday morning. I saw Before Sunset, a sequel to the movie Before Sunrise.
If you haven't seen the first movie (a recommended movie), it goes a little something like this: A young American and a young French woman meet by chance. They wander around Vienna incessantly chatting about philosophy, life and love. They irritate each other at times, but naturally and believeably fall in love. But the hook is that he has to leave on a flight early in the morning so their whole relationship is the night. They promise to meet 9 years later. It is thought-provoking, humorous and touching.
Before Sunset is an incidental meeting between the two after circumstances prevented the promised meeting to come to fruition. It is in the same format, walking, sitting, sailing but all that time talking. He will be leaving back to America at sunset so, of course, they must do their catch-up within that time. The movie is quite different from its predecessor in terms of emotion. The first movie was primarily optimistic. The second film we can feel the pessimism, the bitterness that their experience earlier had prevented them truly bonding with their partners. It is a logical contrast of the enthusiasm of youth versus middle-age dissatisfaction.
Both movies in the series are surely the complete opposite of Goodbye, Dragon Inn with any action in the movies being completely incidental, and the lengthy dialogue the heart and soul. The first movie was very likeable and also touching, but I always had a feeling of it being too fantastic. It reads like a story I would write (but not as cryptic) where philosophical points are illuminated in each turn of sentence. The endless fascinating conversations flow far too easily and it seems they both had saved them up just for this encounter. They are all the discussions you dream of having with someone. But if you can surpress that feeling of disbelief, these movies are wondrous.
In terms of the two movies, the second tends to trump the first in terms of feeling, but that is natural. It is more affecting and you can feel the frustration that exists between the two. But I don't think these two movies should be judged separately, as the second could not happen without the first. Both of them are very good movies, but not exceptional in my estimation (addendum) But I would say together they make an exceptional movie experience.
2 comments:
You give away so much in your movie reviews!
I was thinking about this too.
Most movie reviews tend to give away too much. That is why I don't read them before a movie or writing a review. At most I get a qualitative assessment to see if something is worth going to but I don't like to know the substance. Perhaps by reading the first and last paragraph of a review or looking at the star rating. When viable, I prefer to watch without star ratings or anything.
By writing a review, I am not intending to market the movies to make other people watch them necessarily. I want to reflect on my thoughts about the movie and complete the movie experience by clarifying my thoughts on "paper".
If you want to watch a particular movie I am reviewing, it is best not to read my review or even watch the shorts for a particular movie. That is because writing is part of my thinking (I might elaborate on something we learnt in class recently about writing). I don't want to be restrict my own musings just because of fear I will affect someone else's expectations. Other people can be responsible for guarding their own expectations.
I have gained a particular dislike of the "shorts" movies show to promote films, and even the spoilers for the next in a series (like 24). They are intended to whet your appetite but also they set up your expectations and allow you to know too much.
For the film festival movies, I mostly went by the name, picture and first paragraph.
Post a Comment