I am completely wowed, still haven't spoken to anyone since I finished the movie.
Silence.
Soaking in the last moments.
So good. So perfect.
The atmosphere was intense. You know like there is no time. Just now.
OK. Here's the plot. Just briefly, you should see yourself really. (If you didn't already, cause, you know, the movie is quite old already, 1995 it was). Anyways. Ethan Hawke played Jesse, who is a Eurotrotter on his way to Vienna to catch his flight back to the US the next morning. On the train he met Celine, a French student who he immediately felt a connection with. Even though she was on her way to Paris she decided to hop off the train with him in Austria's capital city and spend the night with him, getting to know each other, exploring the city. They shared a good time with each other only to find themselves the next morning departing - each in other directions, just after they decided to meet again after six months.
The movie has been creating an atmosphere of intensity which I have found admirable. Two people getting to know each other, laughing together, joking together, sharing their philosophies and deepest fears and desires, in such a way that the movie did not need special effect, famous actors to make up for a bad story or a large musical hemisphere surrounding the plot to make it appear more complete in a way.
The two protagonists and their interaction was the only story string of the movie, creating intense magic between the two, like to soul mates meet each other, literally there was no space for anyone else (they forgot to go and see the cow play; when Jesse went to the bartender asking for the bottle of wine, he went away without losing too many words etc.).
When their encounter ended music was setting in, and it seemed kind of needed to fill the emptiness and overcome loneliness. To make this appear stronger old and lonely people where shown just before the movie ends (an old lame lady walking over the field, person passing by the well in the city). Also, the train has been featured many times in the movie, as a symbol for change, movement, journeys, unforeseen things.
Time goes on, changes happen. Opportunities come and go.
There are so many windows of opportunities for us. How many people in trains or airplanes have we already talked to? How many different stories have we heard, told and re-told? How many Facebook names did we share but never got in touch again? How many times did we meet someone interesting but had not had the guts or the time to ask for their phone number or email address? And do we still think of those persons once in a while? Did we maybe exchange addresses and kept in touch? Was there ever a meeting again? Wanted? Unwanted?
Life's defined by opportunities, by those we take, by those we leave out.
Even when it looked like they were not planning on meeting again, in the end they decided to leave one window of opportunities open, and promised to be back.
We will see. There is another movie, which is called (surprise, surprise) After sunset.
***
Oh, I do not think I have to explicitly mention that I liked the movie. Of course I did, my kind of movie, so to say. A bit special, but absolutely beautifully worked out in the sense of managing the dialogues between the two (like, there is basically only dialogue), it came almost naturally, both actors where particularly talented when it came to close up shooting, since their facial expressions where an important element in creating this particular atmosphere.
What I also absolutely loved was this German-English language setting: It added authenticity to the whole piece of art, which so many movies lack.
Wonderful.
***
Happy weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment