Memories of a Sleepless Night - Before Sunrise

Linklater's grand romance starts by hiding deep themes in a deceptively simple film

Hot take: I ship it.

Director Richard Linklater is the best example of a specific flavor of 90s indie film. His first film Slacker follows an ensemble of dozens of disaffected Gen-X twenty-somethings, bouncing from character to character in a way that can seem almost laissez-faire in its approach. It’s a film so seemingly basic that writer/director Kevin Smith watched it and thought “this counts??” Its seeming lack of ambition became a template for his own debut, Clerks, in 1994.

Linklater might not have known it at the time, but for his third film he put into motion one of the great stylistic motifs of his career. Before Sunrise is absolutely in the same vein of Slacker. Its conversations seem to go nowhere, but instead of a long meandering relay of characters seizing the narrative for a scene, Linklater keeps the entire focus on the two young 20-somethings at its center. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (July Delpy) meet on a train to Vienna; the two hit it off and decide to spend one sleepless night together wandering through the city. In the morning, Celine gets on her train to Paris while Jesse gets on a plane back to America. Almost certain that they’ll never see each other again, their separation is tearful and intense despite the few hours they’ve spent together. It’s hardly a spoiler to say that over the course of this short span of time, they’ve fallen in love.

If you know this movie, though, you know that’s not the end of the story. Before Sunrise and Before Midnight have followed up with these two, each sequel checking in on Jesse and Celine nine years after the previous film.

For my last semester in high school. my parents gifted me a six-month subscription to Netflix. They might not have known it at the time, but it was one of those gifts that quietly spiraled me off into being a real, proper film nerd, a direct line that can connect that Christmas to this moment now. I quickly looked for recommendations to broaden my knowledge base. Before Sunrise was one of my best friend’s obsessions, so this (and its sequel) was what she demanded I watch. Not every film in that six-month span stands out¹ (it was also a lot of television to be honest), but both Before movies left a mark even during a time that was itself already extremely influential. This hit me at a perfect moment, one where I was over the moon to experience these two characters’ stories, let the romance sweep me off my feet, and think about a future where life’s adventures could be as simple yet magical as a sleepless night.

Despite this, this was a one-time watch due to that singular nature. It felt right to keep it in my memory like it would have been for these characters. The last time I saw it was when I was 18. I’m now 36. The gap between that first time and today is about as long as the gap between Before Sunrise and Before Midnight. Seems like a perfect time consider it seriously, as one of the main contenders for my forthcoming list of Top 250 Films.