Movies are much more than just ‘movies’, they are a way to
live life. They inspire you make you feel hundreds of emotions which otherwise
you might not have experienced. Life is too short to experience everything and
so I think movies or cinema is a perfect way to live a ‘whole’ life. There are
some stories which stay with you and you like to visit them again and again it is
like you are going to visit some old friend of yours. A friend you know very
well with whom you can sit and spend time, you might not even say anything but
he will understand and will empathize with you. There are many such movies
which are like my friends and help me when I am alone and don’t have anyone to talk
to. Interestingly these are not very great or critically acclaimed films (well
some of them are) but the point is it doesn’t matter. I think movies are very
personal experience both for makers and viewers. You may like something that your friends may curse
(and they may also curse you for liking it) but still you like it and probably
you won’t even be able to explain as in why you like it or what’s so special
about it but that is the beauty of it. When you love something you just love it why or how are not important.
Here I would like to express my love for one (or three) such
film (friend). I have watched it I don’t know how many times. I will watch them
not necessarily from the beginning to end but I will watch a part of it and
then will again return to my world. It is very lucid, very beautiful and vey
subtle film ‘Before Sunrise’ from Richard Linklater. Most
of you must have seen it. It is a part of very special Before Trilogy. All the
films of this series are superb and it is very difficult to pick just one but Before
Sunrise connects to me on a very personal and emotional level (Although the
article is expression of my love for the series and not one film). No please
don’t even think of it I have never had such a romantic evening or anything
even remotely similar to it but even then I like it so much. Maybe becoz
somewhere I have this fantasy in me (of meeting a young beautiful intelligent
girl on a train or bus or flight) and it shows a glimpse of it or maybe not
(becoz in that case I would envy Jesse which I do not). I am still trying to find an answer.
There are many love stories made and will be made in future
too. But I doubt if any other film would be able to stir so many emotions in me.
Beauty lies in the simplicity of the
story without being pretentious it comes across with so much honesty that you can’t
help but fall in love with it. Whenever we watch love stories we all have this
fantasy of getting someone like him or her from the movie. And it happens with
me too but the virtue of before series is that you don’t want a partner like Celine
or Jesse but you want them to be together forever, you might want to be their friend
or neighbor or a school teacher of their kids but that’s all, you just wish to
see them together. My fantasy when I first saw Before Sunrise was to be a
fellow passenger with Celine and Jesse. Maybe I would be sitting behind them in
the same coach and listening to their conversation secretly and smiling looking
in my newspaper which I would be pretending to read.
This series is not a love story but it is about love what
happens before and after love and what’s there in between. As Nicholas Sparks says, 'Love is like air you cannot see it but you can feel it’. Something like
that except with time the air becomes heavy and gets polluted with the world
but love is still there and you cannot deny it. They start in Vienna then meet in Paris and
then we meet them again in Greece some very exotic locations that you won’t even
notice becoz you have the world’s most lovable characters walking hand in hand
discussing life and death and all other worldly things and, you can see love, you
can see love in their eyes in their smiles in their pauses. It is magical. Ethan
Hawke and Julie Delpy have given a life to these characters and they actually
feel like two random people walking on streets. Richard Linklater and his writing
team has done wonders by making it so simple and relatable and yet so intelligent.
I sometimes refer it as my philosophical guide, it truly has that all.
By the time you finish watching it and you realise this is the
end and there is no more Celine and Jesse you feel a twinge in your heart and
you will secretly end up praying for them (if they exist in real life at all). I
had the same feelings when my favorite TV show ‘Friends’ finished. I was
heartbroken I wanted it to continue forever and wanted Chandler and Monika to
be together (I could have been the store manager at the end of the street where
they come to live in their new house). But maybe endings are also very important as they kind of complete it all and leave a craving in your heart which is the essence of love. This is the beauty of great stories they become a part of you
and invite you to be a part of their world.
Here I want to thank my old friends Jesse and Celine to be a
part of my life and teaching me so many things and enriching me with many
unforgettable experiences.
Will visit you soon guys!!
