.....combining grand storytelling with a profound exploration of ageless themes: faith and truth, fact and fiction, man versus nature, and innocence and experience.....I have known this book years ago, read a lot of blogs and forums talking about how good the book is. But for some reason I have always skipped buying this. I started reading the other night and I'm onto a few pages already. I never thought this book will entertain me.
I'm liking it so far.
"Fiction, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence?"
*****
Last night I thought of watching clips from Before Sunset. Just because. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. This movie all started from Before Sunrise in 1995 I guess (or 1994, I'm too lazy to google). In 2004 they met again, about nine or ten years after. Ha! I had a post about this in one of my obscure blogs. I wrote.....
Can I stand a movie with only two characters just talking for an hour and a half? Yes - beautiful people talking about whatever comes to mind, exploring possibilities. Excruciatingly honest. Intelligent scriptwriting, effortless acting. And its setting, Vienna, is one of the most romantic places for me - walking on cobblestone pavements and beautiful landscapes.
Existential ennui, don't we experience that once in a while no matter how old or young we are. The movie could be a documentary of anyone's life, a life that comes across one's thought but maybe has no chance to explore, to dissect and to experience because of being too afraid of going down the train and wander and face the what ifs.
And then they meet again. And I like the ending. So much.
I read somewhere a part three is being considered. I don't know how it can be any better than Before Sunset. But I'd welcome a third. Let it be as real and as unfiltered as the first two. Real? The feelings Jesse and Celine presented to us are real for some people at least.
*****
My favorite exchange of dialogues.....
A transcript from one of my favorite moments in Before Sunrise.
Jesse: Alright, I have an admittedly insane idea, but if I don't ask you this it's just, uh, you know, it's gonna haunt me the rest of my life
Celine: What?
Jesse: Um... I want to keep talking to you, y'know. I have no idea what your situation is, but, uh, but I feel like we have some kind of, uh, connection. Right?
Celine: Yeah, me too.
Jesse: Yeah, right, well, great. So listen, so here's the deal. This is what we should do. You should get off the train with me here in Vienna, and come check out the capital.
Celine: What?
Jesse: Come on. It'll be fun. Come on.
Celine: What would we do?
Jesse: Umm, I don't know. All I know is I have to catch an Austrian Airlines flight tomorrow morning at 9:30 and I don't really have enough money for a hotel, so I was just going to walk around, and it would be a lot more fun if you came with me. And if I turn out to be some kind of psycho, you know, you just get on the next train.
Jesse: Alright, alright. Think of it like this: jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you're married. Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have, y'know. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those guys you've met in your life and what might have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right? Well, I'm one of those guys. That's me y'know, so think of this as time travel, from then, to now, to find out what you're missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favor to both you and your future husband to find out that you're not missing out on anything. I'm just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and, uh, you made the right choice, and you're really happy.
Celine: Let me get my bag.
And from Before Sunset.
Jesse: Oh, God, why didn't we exchange phone numbers and stuff? Why didn't we do that?
Celine: Because we were young and stupid.
Jesse: Do you think we still are?
Celine: I guess when you're young, you just believe there'll be many people with whom you'll connect with. Later in life, you realize it only happens a few times.
Jesse: And you can screw it up, you know, misconnect.
*****
Checking Rotten Tomatoes, Before Sunset is at 95%, and Before Sunrise is at 100%. Wow, after all these years, the reviews are still so high. I just have to agree!
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