Before Sunrise (1995)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers (WGA):

Richard Linklater (written by) &
Kim Krizan (written by)

Release Date:

27 January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Jump on and live a Eurorail journey you will never forget!

Plot:

A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one romantic evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.

Plot Keywords:

Train | French | American | Love | Honesty

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Ethan Hawke	...	Jesse
Julie Delpy	...	Celine
Andrea Eckert	...	Wife on Train
Hanno Pöschl	...	Husband on Train
Karl Bruckschwaiger	...	Guy on Bridge
Tex Rubinowitz	...	Guy on Bridge
Erni Mangold	...	Palm Reader
Dominik Castell	...	Street Poet
Haymon Maria Buttinger	...	Bartender
Harald Waiglein	...	Guitarist in Club
Bilge Jeschim	...	Belly Dancer
Kurti	...	Percussionist
Hans Weingartner	...	Cafe Patron
Liese Lyon	...	Cafe Patron
Peter Ily Huemer	...	Cafe Patron

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | Austria | Switzerland

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Netherlands:AL (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:10 | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:13 | Finland:S | Germany:6 (bw) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R (No. 33555) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Vienna, Austria

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

In the scene where Jesse complains about fortune tellers never telling the truth, he quotes almost exactly from a scene in the book "The Circus of Dr. Lao" by Charles G. Finney. In the book the magician Appollonius of Tyana tells a widow that her next day and the day after will be exactly the same as the day before, "a tedious collection of hours". (Page 81, Grey Walls Press edition)

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In Vienna, Jesse talks about his obsessive relationship with "Miss July, 1978" of Playboy magazine, then asks Celine if she knows Crystal. Playboy's Miss July 1978 was actually Karen Morton, cousin of 1970s model Elaine Morton.

Quotes:

Jesse: I mean, just once, I'd love to see, some little old lady save up all her money, to go to the fortune teller, and she'd get there, all excited about hearing her future, and the woman would say, "Um-humm. Tomorrow, and all your remaining days will be exactly like today. A tedious collection of hours. And you will have no new passions, and no new thoughts and no new travels, and when you die, you'll be completely forgotten.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Who's on First: The Movie (2005)

Soundtrack:

Yakety Sax

One of the best films of the 1990s

I had never heard of this film before a couple of weeks ago, but its concept interested me when I heard it: an American man meets a European woman on his last night in Europe and they spend the night together talking. It sparked my interest, but I never expected it to be this great. Before Sunrise is a masterpiece, and it's also one of the most romantic films on record. To my surprise, it completely lacked the cynicism of the 1990s. It's impossible to really talk too much about it, since there is no real plot, so to speak (although there are plenty of thoroughly interesting things you could talk about; it is sort of like My Dinner With Andre, where there is a conversation, but it's not JUST the conversation that matters), but let me just say, see it. SEE IT!