Product Details

• Actors: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert, Hanno Pöschl, Karl Bruckschwaiger
• Directors: Richard Linklater
• Writers: Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan
• Producers: Anne Walker-McBay, Ellen Winn Wendl, Gernot Schaffler, Gregory Jacobs, John Sloss
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French, German
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: January 23, 1996
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (217 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303922783

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This romantic, witty, and ultimately poignant glimpse at two strangers (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) who share thoughts, affections, and past experiences during one 14-hour tryst in Vienna somehow remains writer/director Richard Linklater's (Dazed and Confused, Slacker) most overlooked gem. Delpy, a stunning, low-key Parisian, meets the stammering American Hawke, as the two share a Eurorail seat--she's starting school in Paris, he's finishing a vacation. Their mutual attraction leads to an awkward meeting (beautifully played by each performer), and Hawke suggests that Delpy spend his remaining 14 hours in Vienna with him.

Typically, this skeleton is as much plot as Linklater provides; as usual, he's more interested in concentrating his talents on observing the casual, playful conversations between his leads. His tight time frame allows the characters to say anything to one another, and topics ranging from politics to past romances to fears of the future flow with subtle finesse. The short time frame is also cruel, however, because beneath this love affair lies the painful reality that the two most likely will never see each other again and will be left only with memories--an idea Linklater drives home with an effective snapshot conclusion.

Hardly the trite Gen-X bitch session that many '90s films using this approach become, the film feels more like a Bresson or Rohmer piece, containing sharp perceptions--and flawed humans rather than stereotypes. The protagonists' frank revelations and heated exchanges flow in a stream-of-consciousness style, and its no accident that Linklater set the film in Vienna, where Freud invented and practiced psychotherapy. --Dave McCoy

From The New Yorker

The hip ennui that Richard Linklater conjured up in "Slacker" and "Dazed and Confused" seemed rooted in Texas, but it transplants beautifully to Vienna, where his third film is set. The movie is provocatively plotless: Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) meet on a train, decide to get off together, and have themselves a fine, sleepless time before parting the next day. That's it: various threats loom up and fade away, and the only suspense comes from wondering whether the two characters (who are pretty much the only characters) will stop talking long enough to have sex. The extended takes and lazy conversations bring the movie within inches of boring, but there is real audacity in the casual bookishness of the script (by Linklater and Kim Krizan) and in the shrugging rhythms of the direction. The charm-the midsummer enchantment-never feels forced; it steals up and wins you. A true romance. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Romance to Cure the Most Virulent Cynic, January 19, 2002

By	M. JEFFREY MCMAHON "herculodge" (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Before Sunrise (DVD)

When I heard the story line for Before Sunrise, a slacker American played by Ethan Hawke falls in love in Europe with Julie Delpy, I rolled my eyes. But this is a thoughftul and compelling movie that broke down my skeptical and cynical wall. First, the movie takes us through the awkward stages of two people going from being perfect strangers to removing their own walls and falling in love in a way that is never sappy. Using this falling-in-love motif, the director/writer Richard Linklater addresses several profound themes: the nature of time, the conflict between cynicism and romance, the obsession with death, the shortcomings of "adulthood." The dialogue between Hawke and Delpy is philosophical but never too abstract; it seems to stem from their well-drawn characters. I suppose there's a parallel between the breaking down of my own cynicism and the characters'. They have been hurt by life, have put up their walls, and, through their discussions, they have gradually removed those walls so that by the movie's end you think it's a crime if they don't fall in love and live happily ever after. But the movie is more complex than a happy ending. The movie forces you to ask if their love would survive if removed from the brief ecstasy of their single day (and night) together. Is the brevity the cause of their ecstasy? Would a life of marriage disintigrate into the mundane? The characters struggle with these questions in what is my favorite romantic movie.

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Magical Movie, March 27, 2002

By	Sharpbevel (N. Hemisphere) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Before Sunrise [VHS] (VHS Tape)

At first, I was surprised I was even watching this movie. I'm older now. Been married for 20 years. Not really into "chick flicks" but something about the dialog between these two young people caught my attention when I surfed into this movie. These kids were truly something. The young lady was everything I would want my daughter to be. Smart, articulate, pretty, honest, independent and sensible. She was a lot of fun to listen to. The boy was honorable and really seemed to care for this girl. I hope my sons treat the women they fall in love with with the same respect. Why would a middle age guy like me like this movie? I think it took me back to a time where I remember feeling the magic and excitment from meeting someone for the first time. It was pretty nice to feel this again for a short time. I guess I forgotten how it felt to be so intrigued by someone that nothing else in the world mattered. It was rare to have this feeling and something that we will all remember when it does happen....or something we would want to experience again. It's like a gift. It reminded me of that Neil Young song Like a Hurricane....."...that magic moment right before you kissed my lips, time just slips....". I hope I remeber the words right. This is truly an excellent movie with great dialog. A true gem in a world of rotten, corny movies minus the breast shots and gratuitous sex scenes. None of that in this movie. Just a very honest and natural progression in a short-term relationship that both charactures really appreciate.

This is just a very good movie. Perhaps one of the best I have ever seen. Not sure why it's rated "R". Perhaps some of the language but I have heard worse in my son's Jr. High School.

Watch this movie and experience a wonderful feeling that you probably haven't experienced in years or maybe never experienced but want to. It makes this guy appreciate the woman that I have a little bit more than I did.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare Honesty and Hypnotizing Conversations, November 18, 2004

By	Rebecca Johnson "SeasonedwithLove.com" (Washington State) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Before Sunrise (DVD)

In a world where characters seem to cautiously approach a tentative friendship before diving into an impulsive romantic relationship, it is almost refreshing to see both happening at once. From the moment American Jesse meets the luminous French Celine there is a soul connection that defies definition.

At first, Celine seems to overwhelm Jesse with her intellectual wanderings and yet she playfully allows him to tease her. The chemistry is phenomenal and the sheer beauty of various scenes made me realize how the simplicity of the settings actually enhanced the emotional aspects.

Throughout the entire movie you never feel that you are on the outside looking in, although I think that is the underlying attraction. I was so mesmerized by the script I felt I became each character as they were speaking. This is bliss for anyone who loves the sheer honesty of life itself. Jesse and Celine delve into philosophy, creatively describe their first romantic feelings and enjoy a spontaneous merging of the minds.

When they meet on a train heading to Vienna, neither imagine they will encounter a reality that is better than any fantasy. There is a sweet innocence pervading this entire movie with an underlying erotic tension that never seems to find complete fulfillment on screen. While the ending of this movie is more melancholy, the ending of Before Sunset is more than delicious.

~The Rebecca Review