Rating: 
Summary: Surprising little gem
Review: First off, I'm a dude and this isn't a movie that only chix will dig. I saw this movie on late night t.v. thinking it was going to be pretentious crap. I normally like action type movies, but for a movie consisting entirely of dialouge, it managed to hold my attention. I don't want to ruin the movie for those who haven't seen it, but I will say the ending cuts of the locations where the two main characters, only without them in the scene...was very poignant. I'm kind of an old dude now, but I wish I had experienced what this young couple had if only for a brief period of time. They took a risk to get to know each other knowing it was only for one evening and it was not ruined by cheap sex. This is what relationships should be, these people really cared about each other.
Rating: 
Summary: Great film, but won't work on DVD-ROM
Review: I stumbled across this film on late night channel surfing and fell in love with the love story of Jesse and Celine. From that day on, I make a point of watching it late and avoid watching it too many times as not to spoil the magic of the film. Dialogue between these two characteres played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy carries the film from beginning to end. The screenplay for this film and the interpretation by these two great actores is a work of art. I highly recommend this film. After searching everywhere and not having any luck, I finally bought the DVD on Amazon.com. The problem is that it doesn't play in my DVD-ROM :-( ... I guess I'm going to have to go out and buy a real DVD player... oh well... hopefully it will work then.
Rating:
Summary: The sequel is coming!!!
Review: This is a truly stunning movie. There is nothing I can say that has not already been said here. I get almost as much pleasure from reading these reviews as I do from watching every scene of this beautiful, unforgettable film. This film has touched so many lives. Having lived in France and had similar experiences, this love story really resonates with me. And, guess what fans, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke have signed up for the sequel! I would be nervous about a sequel ruining this work of art, if the effort were not in the hands of Delpy, Hawke, and Linklater. I'm sure they will take good care of this treasure. The leaks about the sequel are already hinting at a careful, realistic continuation of the story. For example, Celine and Jesse do NOT meet 6 months later on the platform (of course not!). They meet again by chance 7 or 8 years later in France, with Jesse on a promotional tour for his new book. Looks like Paris with be the backdrop city (wow!), as filming begins there in Fall 2003. We can expect that 7 years will have likely raised some barriers to renewed intimacy. I'm expecting Celine to be deep in another relationship, and Jesse ... well, we'll see. I'm hoping for a few twists, like maybe Celine DID go back in 6 months -- 1 day early in fact because she wan't sure about the date, and waiting three days in the damn snow for Jesse, who never showed up. Can you imagine her bitter train ride back home to Paris on the Rejection Express? Now there's a barrier for the 7-year-older Jesse to get over. But most of all, I'm looking for more magic that will compare to the listening booth, the trolley Q and A, the pinball game, and "ring ring, pick up!"
(By the way, Delpy fans, don't miss "An American Werewolf in Paris". Julie is charming, the comedy works beautifully to temper the well-worn vampire theme, and the flying prophylatic cafe scene, and Julie's deadpan expression, is worth the price of the disk!)
Rating:
Summary: Tender, understated romance between strangers
Review: This was a beautiful movie, a wonderfully understated story of an extended date between 2 strangers: an awkward and goateed American slacker (Ethan Hawke) and a stunning and sunny French woman (Julie Delpy). Jesse (he), is on the rebound - having followed his girlfriend to Europe, only to find that she's dumped him. On a train to Vienna, he meets Celine (she, natch). The two hit it off in a sort of cute way, and Celine agrees to keep Jesse company in Vienna overnight, as he wiles the hours away until morning for his flight back to the US. They spend most of the time ambling through Vienna - through its old streets, along the Danube and the even check out that Ferris Wheel from "The Third Man" (Harry Lime does not make an appearance, and neither of our heroes brave the Viennese sewers). "Before" may be a scripted follow-up to Linklater's earlier "Slacker" - substituting Austin, TX with Vienna. Though the flick boils down to an extended conversation, Delpy and Hawke develop a tender chemistry that goes beyond the abstract philosophy of their conversation (Jesse muses that rich and poor children are similarly neglected; Celine muses that some people easily and unwittingly give their lives up to work, never thinking of their own enjoyment). The plot never builds up any tension - any sense that their relationship is heading for something, but that's the point. By the time they part ways, we realize that both of our heroes struggled to be as open and friendly as possible with a total stranger each knows will never be seen again. The pay-off comes at the end as we say the pain of their separation. In a montage of Vienna the next morning, as the camera lingers on those spots graced by Jesse and Celine - now washed by sunshine but bereft of their company (or anybody else's). The loss is palpable. If anything, "Before" may be a companion to "Movable Feast", Hemingway's ode to pre-WWII Paris. Unlike Paris, Linklater seems to be saying, Vienna is delicacy that you can't take with you. So stick around as long as you can, and savor every bite. Either way, you know you'll never leave satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This is one of the very few movies I've ever found myself wanting to be in the actual picture. Not to be one of the characters, but just to be a ghost, folowing them around, gazing at the moon with them. This movie is so well conceived and acted that I tend to lump it in with other "plateau" movies... ones that aren't necessarily better than each other, but so good as it couldn't possibly have been made any other way. Instead of sitting through it occupying my boredom by trying to think what would have been done better (as i tend to do even with movies i like), i was almost completely absorbed with just watching it (and probably would have been if it wern't for a full bladder halfway through...). Although i've only seen it once, i get the feeling this is the type of movie you can watch over and over again with little sense of loss from past viewings. I highly recommend purchase of the dvd or cassette, and cannot concieve of how you could go on living without having at least rented it.
Rating:
Summary: A Modern Ulysses
Review: All happened within a day, a modern Ulysses? There were de facto only two characters in this film, two youngsters who chanced to meet in Vienna and then they talked and talked, talking about life, about their parents' expectations and their reciprocal resentment, about friends and human relationships... about everything. What the director did was keep changing scenes, taking the audience on a beautiful tour in the whole town of Vienna interweaving each setting with a new local passerby or else a fortune-teller to make it look real. He did it, the viewers don't feel bored ( such a contrast to "Anne Frank" ). Needless to say, they are not intended for the children unless they sufficiently know about the ironies and humours of modern life. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: You must see this movie!!![.]
Review: Sorry but the only thing I want to say about this movie is that it is fantastic! Believe me when I say that it is a must see if you consider yourself a romantic person. Even if you dont, please give it a try!
Rating: 
Summary: I have never heard of this movie before
Review: I know someone who loves this movie but I have never heard of it. Neither has any person I know or any person in the whole town knows of this movie. Can this movie be really that good? She paid a one day shipping fee for this art film. I read the reviews and it sounded like it was very complicated and boring. Rated R !!???? Are you kidding me. Little children can't even watch this movie. Anyways, when I watch this movie. Maybe I will have a different opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: I'm a french girl and I love this movie but it doesn't exist in a french DVD. It's so sad.
It's an incredible romantic story. I think that a lot of people dream about a relation like that. They talk about all. It's very interesting. So PLEASE... I would like that french people discover this movie in DVD...
Rating:
Summary: This is just me all over!
Review: I stumbled on this movie (just like everybody else it seems) some years ago on TV. I read the content and thought 'Oh looks nice'. And how nice it was. I was completely speechless! I have never seen such an intense and true movie! The idea of Richard Linklater to tell his story to the world is just great. He once met a women and the walked around all night, just talking... When he visited Vienna for a movie-festival he felt it was the right place to re-enact hiStory. I like the conversations between Hawke and Delpy, the way the talk about nothing but still touch the essence of life... magnificent! My first thoughts? 'This is life.' I hope you all enjoy it the same way I did!
|
