Before Sunrise: No Country for Old Men?

[John Cole]

Perhaps it's my age, but after watching Before Sunrise for the first time the other night, the lines from Yeats' poem came into my head: "That is no country for old men. The young in one another's arms, birds in the trees...." I liked the acting, but I just couldn't stand to listen to them.

After reading opinions here, I expected to love it, and two of my favorite films--My Dinner with Andre and My Night at Maud's--concern little more than people talking, but in those films I'm fascinated by what they talk about.

In My Dinner with Andre, Wally and Andre balance each other, much like Ralph and Alice Kramden. It seemed to me, and I know this is a bad analogy, Before Sunrise featured an entire conversation between Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton without the humor.

However, I have the sequel here, so I'm going to give it a shot, hoping the years have matured them.

[Dominic]

i thought you were going to compare Before Sunrise to the new Cohen Bros. film - No Country For Old Men!

I can see how the two characters in BS might frustrate you...but that is the nonsense of youth, no? And I do think you'll like Before Sunset better, as you may be able to relate more to them...

[thecincykiddo]

[ QUOTE ]
In My Dinner with Andre, Wally and Andre balance each other

[/ QUOTE ]


I know what you mean.

A lot of the first movie's charm depends upon the state of your love life, your age and experience, and your willingness to listen to them. The sequel's better.

Sometimes I wonder if Linklater made Sunset by way of apology, as a compensation, as well as a time experiment.

[John Cole]

Well, I watched Dig! last night, a documentary about the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and found it riveting. Perhaps I shouldn't place all the blame of not liking Before Sunrise on age.

[thecincykiddo]

Lol. Maybe wise.

I had to look up the BJM, thought someone had gotten Jim's name wrong. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[katyseagull]

I don't think it has to do with age at all. I think it has more to do with what cincykiddo wrote, our own experiences and the state of our love life. Some of us have had similar experiences and can really relate, and it brings back bittersweet memories. Others of us would give anything to meet someone where we had this type of connection. Personally, I miss having intellectual discussions like Jesse and Celine had, where there is a strong chemistry and attraction, where there is a complete lack of pretense because you are going to leave anyway so what's the point.

I guess I thought it was realistic. Also, the acting was really good and succeeded in drawing me in.

[thecincykiddo]

I didn't see the first film until the second film had been out for two years, and I watched the second one first on gut instinct. It turned out to be the right thing to do, because I was able to go back and watch the first, but then ... I waited a while before watching the second.

I think if I had just sat down and watched these back to back that something intangible would have been lost. That said, I have little doubt that I would've connected better with the first movie when it actually came out in theatres, but i'm pretty glad that the second one didn't lose me.

Also, I was the same age as Jesse and Celine when I watched Sunset, so there was something magical about that, too.

[John Cole]

Katy,

I'm not sure their discussion was "intellectual," nor would I insist that discussions should be. I think, perhaps, I'm too steeped in the great dialogue of the screwball comedies--Bringing Up Baby, The Front Page, The Lady Eve, and so on--to take the discussions in Before Sunrise "seriously."

By that I mean that I can take the dialogue between Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn seriously, even if it seems mere lighthearted banter to some, because beneath the surface sheen, the matters they discuss are dead serious. As the great critic of these comedies, Stanley Cavell puts it (and I paraphrase), talking together is our essential way of being together. (See Cavell's Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedies of Remarriage.)

BTW, I did enjoy parts of the movie, the acting and the final shot, in particular.

[thecincykiddo]

Are you by any chance one of those people who doesn't like a play unless it's written by Tennessee Williams or Neil Simon? I'm surprised that someone with your sensibilities wouldn't pick up on the fine print in their conversation more -- they are asking themselves deeply philosophical questions just making small talk, it seems.

[John Cole]

I'm not "one of those people" about anything. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Okay, I might be able to offer a defense of what they say, but I'm convinced that other films have much more to say about chance, time, love, mutability, and passion. (In the Mood for Love, for example.)

As far as playwrights, I'll take Tom Stoppard, Sophocles, August Wilson, David Mamet, Beckett, and Shakespeare, or just about anything else I happen to run into.