Before Sunrise (1995)

Since 2004 I’ve been rating each movie I see and I’m quickly closing in on 800 movies. From this list there are only a small number of movies that I’ve rated a 10.

One of these movies is Before Sunrise, with Ethan Hawke (Jesse) and Julie Delphy (Celine). They meet in the train in Vienna and Jesse manages to get Celine to keep him company during the night he has to wait in Vienna until his plane leaves.

During this night the movie shows the conversations the two are having and the people they meet on their way. The reason I’ve scored this movie a 10 is the fact that everything feels real. It almost feels like a documentary that happens to follow these two people. Because there are only two actors which have the camera pointed at the constantly and passers-by are only shown shortly, the acting has to be top-notch. Hawke and Delphy show that they have the skills.
The movie feels like it’s very personal and shows the emotions both characters have (towards each other, but also how they think about life). You will forget that this is something that has been filmed, you are actually with them and that impressed me.

What I also like is that ten years later a sequel to this movie was made, Before sunset, with the same characters. Through their conversations you find out what happened with them after the first movie. The movie is of the same quality, I scored it 9 as I thought the first one had more impact. When you have seen the first one, you’ll have to see the sequel (tease yourself a bit by not watching both of them on the same night, but wait for about a week).

Score: 10

Interested in other movies which I’ve awarded a 10?
A complete list can be found here.