'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset'

After a long hiatus from movies, I watched 'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset' one after the other. Spoiler alert - the movie is brilliant. It does not have a typical Hollywood touch to it. It does not have many characters. It does not have elaborate story line. But it is an amazing movie.

There is not much to disclose about the story line. In the first movie, the guy and the girl meet in a train, start talking and fall in love. This is a typical story base for numerous Hindi movies. What's so great? The whole movie is about the dialogue delivery. The protagonists go around Vienna for a whole day talking. They are on such varied topics. About their childhood, about ghosts, poems, love. At the helm of their youth, they talk about all the ideals any 20 odd year old girl / guy have. They are far from reality. They believe anything is possible in this world.

It is a treat to listen to them and try to make sense. As guessed, by the end of the movie, they fall in love. Since, they are from different parts of the world, they plan to meet after 6 months in that same train station. I could feel their passion for each other. They did not want to leave each other and part. It felt very real.

Cut to the second movie, it is about the same 2 people who meet after a gap of 9 years. They wouldn't have met after 6 months. They wouldn't have exchanged phone numbers of addressed to search the other. They have moved on with their lives.

They have aged, one of them is married, the other is in a steady relationship. They meet by chance and again spend the whole day talking going around Paris. This time, the topics are very real. Marital problems, job hazzards, ex-boyfriends, children. They have realized that the ideals they had are good to talk and write about. To live by them is very difficult. They have made peace with their personal lives and kinda blame each other for the situation that they are in. The guy is in a sad marriage and the girl is scared about committements. They reminiscize about how different their lives would be if they had met on the day they had decided to.

Ending to the second movie is left for the audience to decide. The romantics can believe that they get together this time. The cynics can choose to believe that they moved on with their mundane lives. It is a movie for people who love a good conversation and can sit through it.