Before Sunrise

Loved it a lot. It made me laugh, made me cry, made me happy. 4.5 stars because I loved it. I wouldn’t be surprised if I rewatched this in the future and I gave it a 5.  The beginning of this movie talks about Jesse’s dream of making a show that films the mundane lifestyle of people all around the world. Celine initially mocks the idea and thinks no one will watch such a show. The two characters painted the picture of what that show would look like and what it would be trying to capture, and shortly after that conversation concluded you start to notice that’s how this film is made. The conversation is not framed so we see both characters at once, but it is intimately focused on one character at a time and their mundane conversation and how they think and act. This opposes itself later in the film, as Jesse doesn’t see the mysticism of mundane things and people, but Celine does. Jesse is in Europe to try to notice and see the beauty in the small things, but his background makes him hesitant and standoff-ish. Celine immediately finds the beauty in these small moments and treasures them, but Jesse needs to be convinced.  Some very impressive conversations between them, in these very extended shots. Some great philosophical and personal discussions happen in these shots. There’s something really special about their honesty in these scenes.  “Don’t forget, you are stardust.”