Before Sunset

Beautiful. Just as perfect as the first one [which is reviewed here, and if you want the plot then Google it! Or watch it!]. This is actually probably one of the best sequels I’ve ever seen. Its got the style and dialogue that I loved in the first film, along with a few added elements; seeing as we already know the characters and their situation [the movie is set 9 years from the original movie], the opening song is a reflection of their relationship, the opening had clips from the previous film, find out if they did meet up after 6 months [I won’t tell you if they did or not!!!], the film is set in real time [the time elapsed in the story is the say run of the film], here is a scene of no dialogue but so much is said, the girl sings a song and its so beautiful and then there’s the ending which is horrible and cruel because its another bloody cliffhanger!!! Does he go to the airport?!!? DOES HE?!?!?!!?

Short review but honestly, I did love it but hated that damn ending! DOES HE?!?!?!?!?!

120/212

Kate
xoxo

2 Days In Paris

I liked the use of photography in this movie because its about a holiday and the photos are like vacation photos. At one point, every word Marion [Delpy] said had a photo that was displayed. I loved that effect.

The main guy, Jack [Goldberg] is the biggest hypochondriac EVER and moans about everything and I was just like ‘how the hell can anyone love him?’. He had his moments and he was funny but that was about it! He found something wrong about everything! He was actually worse than my granddad Tony and I can say what I like about him because he doesn’t have the internet!

“No sarcasm in Paris.” “Ok, I’ll be quiet for 2 days.”

The couple are constantly arguing, I don’t see how they could be together but they somehow are and I believe it!

This movie is kind of like Meet the Parents but in French and a tad more realistic. And a photo involving helium balloons and a reproductive organ.

There’s a freaky scene with a freaky man who just stares at our couple, mostly Marion and its in a way like he’s about to suddenly make-out with her! Its so freaky but Jack’s reaction [big eyes!] is quite funny.

The film is kind of like a rom-com but more realistic and doesn’t really follow the rom-com rules if you know what I mean… like, there’s no slapstick or stuff like that… and no Jennifer Aniston…

There’s a little theme about it being a ‘small world’. Jack reads a book on the ‘small world’ theory and therefore spent most of his time in Venice looking for people he knew and never did. In Paris, Marion is constantly bumping into people she knows. Jack finally finds people he knows but its really bad because he’d told them the wrong way to the Louvre the previous morning and they’d been walking ever since. It made me go ‘ooooooooooo gutted!’

There was a sweet yet sad moment when Marion and Jack had just argued and Marion sees what she wishes was happening in the crowd which is her and Jack dancing and laughing to the music.

Lovely film, really sweet and funny.

75/212

Kate
xoxo

Before Sunrise

This film is probably one of the best romantic films ever. There’s no fancy cinematography, no special effects, no cheesy script and no Matthew McConaughey.

We have this ordinary pair of people, a man and a woman, who meet on a train. Average circumstances with average people. For me, being so young, I can relate to this movie a lot and I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. They have the awkward first conversation, they continue to be realistically awkward as the movie continues as we have to remind ourselves that the movie takes place over one night/morning.

The guy says “I like talking to you.” Boys, if you’re reading, take notes. A girl loves nothing more than hearing that you like talking to her. It is always running through my mind when I’m talking to a guy [friend or more] that I’m boring him. When a guy says that he enjoys talking to you, it makes us so happy! Because the girl in the movie is so plain-Jane and normal that I relate to her and therefore I go “YAY! He likes talking to her!”

Like I mentioned before, the script is very realistic and so is the acting. It almost feels like its improvised though I read that it isn’t. They talk about the type of things two strangers trying to know each other would talk about and they have the nervous laughter that we all do. Its beautifully awkward in a way we can all relate to. I think that the ‘storyline’ for this movie would of bored me to tears if the script and acting weren’t so brilliant. Its so incredibly realistic, I don’t think I get this point across enough!

The girl is normal, average looking. She hasn’t got make-up on, her hair isn’t all fancy and she’s wearing clothes that are comfy and perfect for traveling in. She looks like I would on a train, or my friend or the woman next to you. The guy is good looking and a bit of a pretty-boy but they are ‘real’ too! What makes me love this is that I feel like I’m average looking [shut up mum ^_-] and seeing a guy fall in love with her and talk to her like she’s the only one that matters gives me some hope. It could be false hope as it is a movie but still. It’s a little hope.

OK, there is one scene with a palm reader which pisses me off but I think the screenwriters did a perfect job on showing how full of BS palm readers and fortune tellers are. The woman says to the girl that she is a traveler and a stranger to this town. Well, yes, she has a French accent and she’s in Austria. The palm reader then says she’s a feminist and a strong woman. This could be seen by her lack of make-up, hair styling and non-fashionable clothes. Anyone can tell she’s clearly making a statement that she doesn’t care about her appearance which is the stereotype of feminists. It just makes me laugh. My mate Sarah loves these things and totally believes in it and she went to a fortune teller who said “you want to buy a new pair of shoes that you‘ve had your eye on for a while” which isn’t that hard to guess as Sarah is a woman and we like shoes. She then said “and they are purple.” This is what made Sarah convinced she was psychic. However, if you looked at Sarah and saw her [dyed] dark purple hair and dark clothes, it doesn’t take that much to see she’d like the colour purple. Sorry, totally off topic here but it just gets on my nerves. Fine if you believe in it and all but I want to do what Dara O’Briain wants to do and shove psychics/palm readers in a bag with homeopaths, astrologers and priests and beat them with sticks.

This movie is all about dialogue. What moves everything forward, what makes this movie such a great, realistic movie is the script. The couple get to know each other by non-stop talking; asking questions and telling stories. There is a scene which really rubs it in your face that this movie is about talk. We see little clips of people talking at different tables in a bar/restaurent. Most are speaking German, a few are speaking English. I don’t speak German yet I found myself fascinated by the German people speaking. I can’t really explain it but you just start to wonder what got these people to start talking and what are they talking about? What is the talking leading to? How did these people meet?

There’s a really cute scene just after we ‘overhear’ the other people’s conversations. The girl says that she’s going to rehearse what she’s going to say to her friend in Paris who she’s not going to be able to have lunch with because she got off the Paris train. She talks to her ‘friend’ who is played by the guy and she explains what’s happening, what’s happened and her feelings towards the guy. Its such a brave, adorable way to confess your feelings to another person. Even more adorable is that he does it too and the girl ‘plays’ his friend.

There was one part that I felt ruined it slightly as it wasn’t very realistic. The guy asks the barman if he can give them a bottle of wine and he’ll send the money to him once he’s back in America. The barman says yes! What the hell! That would never happen! It ruined it because it was all so realistic up until that point.

The guy wears a leather jacket that squeaks. Its distracting and painful to hear. Like nails on a chalkboard.

The penultimate scene, we see shots of the many places the couple went to and stopped to talk. They were so romantic at night with the couple but when we see them in daylight, empty, it just looks like a regular spot. However, the more I think about it, the more I disagree with my ‘regular spot’ thought. They actually look romantic as we know what occurred there. Its strange that it took me a while to think this. Suppose we can interpret these shots differently.

The last scene is so lovely. They say goodbye and so separate ways. You’d think that as they stared into the distance, thinking of one another, they’d start to cry or look sad as they’ll probably never see each other again. But no. They smile. Its soooo sweet because you know they’re thinking about their moments together and their insanely long talk. It gives the ending a happy feeling as they focus on the good times rather than the current sad moment.

It’s a romance that anyone can relate to. Even if you’ve never experienced talking non-stop to someone or never been in love, you will still relate and really enjoy this movie.

35/212

Kate
xoxo