Box office $ 5.5 million
This was the first time I saw a movie that had nothing close to a human antagonist, yet it kept me glued to the screen. Sure I've read a few novels of the kind but surely they weren't "oh I'm glued" stuff. Everybody at least once in their life dreams of something like this and this movie makes it believable. After watching the movie I really thought that Ethan & Julie must have dated 'cause their conversations were just flowing. Definitely a must see.
Filipe Manuel Neto
Feb 19, 2017
7/10
A very simple but very human film, with very good feelings and dialogue.
Contrary to what I like to do, I saw this film after seeing its sequel, “Before Sundown”. It's a very nice story about an American tourist who is enchanted by a French student he meets on the train on the way to Vienna, and invites her to spend some time with him. The rest of the film is an intense dialogue between the two through the streets of the city, as emotions and feelings develop.
The best thing this film has to offer is the surprising and intensely credible interpretation of the main actors. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are both young, elegant and seem to make a nice couple (of course, the characters, not the actors). I don't know if I'm the only person to think this way, but it seems like the actors felt what the characters were feeling, to the extent that there was sympathy or mutual understanding between the two professionals, and a chemistry that permeated entirely to us. .
Directed and written with great skill by Richard Linklater, the film can summarize the first meetings of many young couples out there, and I have no doubt that there are many people who will easily identify with the two characters. Who has never chatted with someone cute on a train or bus? There are friendships that start like this, and I myself have a similar case in my life: I have a friend that I value very much, who is blind and who I met by chance on the train, helping her to sit down on more than one occasion (we were both regular travelers due to work). It's a very human film, full of feelings, and full of good dialogues.
