Monday, March 20, 2006

Romance and Reality

This post is slightly inspired from Casa's or at least smells the same!

Over the weekend I saw Before Sunrise and Before Sunset starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy. And I spent half of the time agreeing with most things they said especially Julie delphy's character in the sequel.

For the uninformed ( ok that is just to get people started..:)) Before Sunrise was this (fairly mushy as I realize now) movie aboout two strangers who meet on the train and spend the next 20 hrs (perhaps?) talking to each other and falling in love with each other. This movie was made in 1995 and I think I saw it about 7-8 years ago, the movie impressed me with its simplicity. And the idea of two strangers getting along so well with each other jelled with me. I still love that movie.

But it was the sequel which made me realize how much I had changed. At the end of the first one they promise to meet each other after six months at the same place (dont bother to exchange phone numbers etc). The sequel was in fact made 9 years later and was about them meeting each other after 9 years. They couldn't meet after six months. But the connection was still there. Anyway, years had taken their toll, they were now older and somehow less romantic and more cynical.

Especially Julie Delphy's character. She talks about how she really felt detached from everything around her etc.. and how often have I felt that way. No, there was no stranger on the train..or a romance that could have been. Its just that life happened. Its like that rock on the sea shore I saw the other day, all that salt water hitting it slowly makes it loose its edge. The rock probably doesn't even realise what is happening until years are gone by and the change is sharp.

No, I am not a bitter depressed manaic....but how I love that movie. For being honest in a strange way. Perhaps its just me who relates to it so. OR perhaps you will too if you watch it.

4 comments:

Baatasaari said...

@ligne: I haven't watched the movie... but as far as the rock on the sea shore is concerned I can see it smiling at the salt water, teasing it,"ha ha! keep trying, I am not that easy to come off... by the way thank you for the timely cleaning with each tide... I await the evenings when you are "HIGH" (on the tides)...". I mean it is OK years have gone by but we have a better idea on what we are going to get into, if we wanted to... we are cleared of our confusions (may be with some other new ones)... hey I made some progress... my thoughts are clear...

ligne said...

yep yep.. wiser smarter..brighter by the day :) Its just once in a while one feels sorry for the lost illusions, now if only there was a way to keep both intact, the illusion and the reality of it all?
Actually in the movie Ethan Hawke says something like how he feels more capable now of handling life's difficulties.. (i of course was ignoring all that and just being plain miserable of no reason :) )

Casablanca said...

Brilliant movies, both of them :)
But then, I'm a sucker for mush movies. And for relating to characters, for that matter ;)

ligne said...

cannot agree with you more on the movies :)