The Perfect Ethan Hawke Romance, According To Rotten Tomatoes
Watching Richard Linklater's 1995 romantic drama "Before Sunrise," it's not hard to grasp why Frenchwoman Céline (Julie Delpy) is taken with the American Jesse (Ethan Hawke), a fellow 20-something traveler she encounters on a train ride back to Paris after visiting her grandmother. With flawless, floppy hair and a sensitive, intellectual manner, he's an alluring mystery waiting to be investigated at a time in her life when she's far more inclined to imagine how chatting up an amicable stranger on a train might lead to something remarkable (as opposed to how it could go profoundly wrong).
Jesse immediately sparks to her too, and they soon find themselves drawn to one another and engrossed in their ensuing conversation. Throwing caution to the wind as only impetuous, gorgeous young people who don't realize just how carefree they really are can, they agree to hit the pause button on their respective lives and spend the rest of the day in Vienna shooting the s**t about art, love, and the universe.
"Before Sunrise," which Linklater directed from a script he co-wrote with Kim Krizan, captures the ecstasy and exhilaration of a youthful blossoming love affair like few other films have. It's little wonder, then, that it holds a perfect 100 percent rating and an average score of 8.8 out of 10 from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, albeit from a limited pool of 50 reviews. Of course, those who know their Linklater are well aware that Jesse and Céline's story not only continued in two more films, but that they also form what's regarded as one of the all-time great trilogies. Really, the only reason the sequels rank lower on Rotty T's is because they have more reviews on the website.
More importantly, they complement and enrich "Before Sunrise," forming a deeper meditation on the very idea of romance in the process.
Before Sunrise is only the beginning
In addition to starring, Hawke and Delpy also co-wrote Linklater's sequels "Before Sunset" and "Before Midnight," which came out in 2004 and 2013. The films catch up with Jesse and Céline in real-time, with "Sunset" revealing what ultimately became of the pair in the intervening years since "Sunrise" and "Midnight" showing what their lives are like in their 40s. It's clear that Hawke and Delpy's script contributions to these films were substantial, presumably allowing them to sort through the emotional baggage they had accumulated in their own lives using the fictional ones of their onscreen counterparts.
Your perspective on each film can vary greatly depending on how many miles you've got under your belt. People the same age as Jesse and Céline in "Sunrise" might find them entrancing, while those who are older and/or more experienced may be irritated by their naïveté (or perhaps simply wistful of it). If you've already dated a real-life Jesse or Céline, you may even find a lot of their conversations to be peppered with red flags.
Alternatively, you could find yourself drawn more to the evolved iterations of the characters in "Sunset," coupled with the film's depiction of 30-something malaise and its suggestion that reconnection, while unlikely, is not impossible. Or maybe you'll find yourself most compelled by "Midnight" and its argument that something real, flawed, and possibly unsustainable as it might be, is ultimately more meaningful than something imagined.
There's wisdom and insight to be garnered from all three of these movies, however, regardless of what stage of life you're at or what you've gone through (or are currently going through). So, should you find yourself falling in love with "Before Sunrise" after your first viewing or even on a revisit, don't hesitate to find out what comes after.