Ryan McNeil
With the new releases taking a bit of an off week, I found myself watching a few older titles this week. Wednesday, I went and caught an outdoor screening of DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN. This is one of those movies that just about every woman around my age has seen, but I’ve never watched. Honestly? kinda cute, but I’m no better off for now having seen it.
On the other hand, a torrential downpour on Saturday sent me trekking to my local movie rental house of wonder, where I had it in mind to grab BEFORE SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET (I’ll talk a bit more about SUNSET tomorrow – y’all come back now, y’hear?).
BEFORE SUNRISE is now fifteen years old, and still feels every bit as charming as I’m sure it felt in 1994. The main reason for this I think, is that it’s a rather timeless story, one that could just as easily be set in 1954. It’s a film that doesn’t rely on any trendy dialogue, or edgy visuals to compel its audience. Rather, it is content to stand at arm’s reach and listen to two people talk about their lives for ninety minutes. I quite enjoyed it and had to give my head a shake for not having seen it sooner.
This is in stark contrast to SUSAN, which if you haven’t seen by now, I’d advise to skip it. The story is “okay” at best, and wickedly dated. It’s become more of a pop culture fossil than an engaging movie, and looking back on many other movies of the era, it isn’t alone. Recently, when I used an image from PRETTY IN PINK as a “Today I Feel Like This” post, fellow blogger Fletch commented that they’d never seen it (or SIXTEEN CANDLES).
Thinking about all these movies in a cluster, it’s quite interesting to see how some stories of young love and youthful rebellion age quite gracefully. Others, while they seem so fun and so cool at the time, eventually find themselves the victim of looking too dated, featuring bad acting, or just simply being an all-around weak story.
Just one of those things to wonder to yourself every now and then…”How well, or how poorly, is this film I’m watching going to age?”
Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are 2 of my favorite movies, but surprisingly of the two Before Sunset is my most favorite. That movie is just brilliant.
I am a huge Richard Linklater fan and love this film. You mention the timeless story. The other thing it has going for it is perfect casting, can you think of anyone who could have doen half as good a job as Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy?