Before sunrise
I watched before sunrise today: WOW!
a) 1000x better than garden state
b) the movie was filmed in vienna: i spent five days in vienna and most the sites were familiar, brought back memories, and seemed like "familiar territory". Because I loved my stay in Vienna, it is impossible to disassociate my feelings and memories of Vienna from watching the film; in fact, I can't conceive of this movie being filmed anywhere else; that is, if it were, to me it would have totally different connotations and it would be a totally different movie. Anyway, all these in the movie I have been to:
the prater (ferris wheel also featured in the third man);
the amusement park;
St Stephens Cathedral;
the inner ring road;
the HAUPTSTRASSE (main street);
pavement along the danube;
the Vienna train station;
the quiet, cobblestone street areas;
the museums, statues and fountains;
grassy and tree areas in the city;
the city trains that go around the ring road;
actors on the street passing out flyers to performances;
red wine and glasses;
outdoor cafes;
nightlife and night views of the city;
even the friggin bus from Vienna city centre to the airport!
Vienna is a terrific city and can be quite romantic I'm really glad to see a whole movie filmed in Vienna (Wien); this movie may be for Vienna what Roman Holiday was for Rome.
c) so, Vienna aside, although the dialogue was campy at times, overall it was carefully constructed and most the times the acting was very realistic and sometimes very nuanced and subtle;
d) a great scene on top of the prater; just like there was one in the third man
e) my favorite location/scene was the small alleyway on the bench;
f) so I know I guess I gotta watch before sunset PLEASE NO SPOILERS!
And my thanks to timeo to calling this movie to my attention!
reposted from a comment of mine:
Dear "anonymous":
have a beaker of beer on me!
OK...It is very hard or impossible for me to disassociate my own five days on holiday in Vienna with my ex-wife, when we had been married only four years. IOW, I have very fond memories of Vienna. And of being there with her. So, I really don't know if this is that good of a movie or whether it is all reaction from me... :)
heck, the two major characters could have been walking all over Vienna talking about ice hockey or cybernetics or different types of dung, or I could have watched the movie with no sound, and I would have had an emotional reaction, simply because I we had been pretty much everywhere in Vienna that the characters went...
But, I know that the movie itself was is commendable...and the plot is very much like Roman Holiday...one day together in a highly romantic city and atmosphere. at least I think Vienna is a romantic city...
and the best part about this mid1990s love story film: no on screen sex, no on screen T&A...just plain falling in love...get me some tissue.