Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise”, the first movie of his Before trilogy which was incidentally re-released in South Korea in a few weeks ago, is charming and delightful as before. While it surely feels all the more poignant now thanks to the presence of the two following films, the movie itself is packed with many interesting moments shining with humor, charm, and intelligence, and I soon found my spirit refreshed within the first several minutes when I revisited it a local movie theater today.  

At the beginning, we get a seemingly typical case of Meet Cute moment on a train which is about to pass through Vienna, Austria. One middle-aged couple suddenly argue with each other in German for some unspecified reason, and that annoys a young French woman who happens to be not so far from them. In the end, she moves to a nearby empty seat where she can read her book with less annoyance, and that happens to draw the attention a young American man on the opposite side of her new seat. 

They are Céline (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke), and they soon find themselves talking a lot with each other in English once Jesse clumsily attempts to approach to Céline. Despite being total strangers to each other, they enjoy each other’s company nonetheless as sensing more of the mutual attraction between them, and Jesse eventually suggests that Céline should stay along with him in Vienna for one night before he takes a plane to US in the next morning. While initially hesitating a bit, Céline agrees to do that, and she and Jesse begin to wander freely around here and there as time casually passes by in Vienna.   

As they experience a various number of locations and people, Jessie and Céline talk more and more with each other, and a series of spontaneous conversations between them reveal more of themselves not only to each other but also us. While they are different in many aspects including their respective nationalities and backgrounds, both of them are smart persons who have been more aware of their life and existence, and their conversations are alternatively sincere and amusing as they constantly exchange their different views and opinions on the world surrounding them. While Céline is more adventurous and optimistic, Jesse is more reserved and skeptic in comparison, but both of them do have some hope and dream about their future, and their youthful moments in the film will touch you more if you remember how they eventually got aged step by step in “Before Sunset” (2004) and “Before Midnight” (2013).

Their mutual attraction becomes more evident to us as well as themselves as their minds engage more and more in their intelligent interactions, but Jesse and Céline are also well aware of how transient their current moment is. Instead, they playfully revolve around each other while still not entirely sure about whether they can come closer to each other, and how they verbally push and pull each other throughout the film reminds me again of how foreplay can sometimes be more romantic than whatever may come after that. 

Under Linklater’s unobtrusive direction, the movie effortlessly flows along with its two main characters while peppering their romantic story with occasional episodic moments popping up around them. I was amused by when Jesee and Céline happen to encounter of a pair of local amateur actors who gladly invite them to their upcoming evening performance, and I smiled a bit when a certain old palm reader ignites another engaging conversation between Céline and Jesse at one point in the middle of the film. In case of one particular homeless guy who turns out to be a poet, this quirky dude will not disappoint you at all when he quickly presents an impromptu piece of poetry as requested by Jesse and Céline.

Above all, the movie is always buoyed by the talent and presence of its two lead performers. Ethan Hawke, who was a new promising actor to watch at that time thanks to his several notable films including Ben Stiller’s “Reality Bites” (1994), ably fills his character with enough wit and likability, and his good performance here in this film solidified his advancing acting career. Julie Delpy, who was right after her memorable performance in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Three Colours: White” (1994) at time, brings a lot of warmth and spirit to her role, and that is the main reason why she is still fondly remembered for this movie even at this point. 

These two talented performers effectively complement each other, and it is quite compelling to observe how naturally they interact with each other on the screen. We really feel like watching and listening to two real persons actually having interesting conversations between them, and, folks, that is definitely something we cannot experience at a movie theater everyday. Regardless of how much they actually improvised upon the screenplay by Linklater and his co-writer Kim Krizan on the set, Delpy and Hawke deftly maintain a considerable level of spontaneity from the beginning to the end, and the result is as good as, say, André Gregory and Wallace Shawn in Louis Malle’s “My Dinner with Andre” (1981).

While it can be regarded as a standalone work, “Before Sunrise” is also the wonderful beginning of its trilogy, and my admiration toward Linklater and his two lead performers grows more after my recent viewing. If you have not seen the movie yet, I will let you discover for yourself what eventually happens between Céline and Jesse in the end, and all I can tell you is that their last scene in the film felt more resonant to me as I reflected more on what I watched from the following two movies many years ago. As a matter of fact, I am already ready for “Before Sunset”, I am sure that I will have another refreshing experience when it is re-released in South Korean theaters in the next month.