Before Sunrise - My Review

A few days ago, I watched a movie called "Before Sunrise". I had heard about it long ago but eventually forgot about it. Last week, I chanced upon it on Netflix and got watching. I am not narrating the movie here, but I'm sharing my thoughts on it.

The movie is about two people who meet on a train by chance. They start talking about their experiences and all the random things of life.  Some of the topics they discuss are their childhood, their upbringing, love, men and women in society, happy couples, life and after, souls, etc. The conversations flow without any effort from both sides. Some of the things they talk about are things that I have thought of myself many times in the past.  This is one of the reasons why I relate to the movie so well.

What I feel throughout the movie is that I am not part of the audience but I'm also with them in the movie. It feels so real! I feel like I am having those conversations with them because they appear like one of us.

There are scenes that make me think, there are others that make me happy and there are some that make me sad. Some parts of the movie bring up a series of emotions...

During one of their discussions, the character Jesse asks Celine a few questions about souls.  That if re-incarnation is true, then how is it that many years ago there were much fewer people (souls) than there are today. So does that mean that we are just fragments of those who lived before? Is that why we're so scattered? Well, I think I have thought about this same question and even discussed it with people in the past. There were many scenes like this where I told myself "Hey, I've had that same thought!"

The scene where a street poet suddenly stops them and tells them he'd write them a poem based on a word they gave him, and if they felt it added something to their lives, they could pay him. This scene touched me a lot. I loved the effortless performance of the poet (Dominic Castell). The poem he recites for them is beautiful. Yet there is something about this scene that brought emotions of sadness to me. Someone as talented as the poet shouldn't have to take to the streets and write poems for strangers is what I felt. He should've been a famous writer - he has the power to touch people with his words. Does our world take extremely talented people for granted? Or is the world scared that they would touch it's soul so deep through their work? May be people like him have the ability to see through the rawness of life and they have the courage to write about it and that's what the world is scared about? I don't know... But there must be so many talented writers and poets and artists who see beyond the mundane life. What will their story be like? Would they feel sad for themselves? Would they be angry with their talent? Would they not really have the time to think about it all? Would they just be happy being so talented? I don't really know... But if I could, I would have asked the poet about his life, his dreams, his love, his story.....I'm sure he too has a story...We all do, right?

There are some scenes in the movie which made me smile, like the one in the music shop where Jesse and Celine can't help but look at each other, at the same time trying to hide the fact that they are actually looking. It's so natural. So real. The telephone scene is also very nice - it brings emotions like joy, vulnerability, love all out at once.  After all, in a world like this, isn't it really tough to allow someone into our life? Love can make you feel vulnerable (what if they don't like me?), happy (love makes you feel happy), confused (is this love?), scared (what if they hurt me?), and so many other things all at once. The actors portray all those emotions so well...

There were no fancy dialogues about love, nothing outside the natural. Yet, there were emotions of deep love in their eyes. Love should be deep, it should be intense, it should make one question everything about their life before it happened, it should be passionate, it should be wild, it should be imperfect, yet very real. This is the love I saw between Jesse and Celine.

This is a movie I am glad I watched. It was shot in the year 1995 and I am watching it now! Yet, I was able to connect to it much more than some of the movies of today. Maybe, somethings remain beautiful with time.

The actors of the movie are Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

Evolving

Life never stays constant. Everything is always changing. Everything is in a state of movement or flux. If we go back to a city after many years, we wouldn't recognize it because it's changed. Call it progress or shift or evolution...it's all the same. I personally like calling it Evolution. Each one of us is in the process of evolving, whether we like it or not. So what does this process feel like? If we look at our own life, we can see how much it has changed in the past few years. The food we liked when we were in college might not be something we like now. In my own personal life, I've experienced it in many ways...Let me be a little precise.. 

My Interests : Well, this is one which happens to all of us, right? Our interests change with time. As for me, I've seen my hobbies and interests change or shift a lot. Until recently, I used to read a lot about Spirituality and was very keen on finding the origin or deeper meaning of life..I used to read the theoretical and abstract articles on spirituality, you know? Of late, I've let go of that... it no longer interests me. What interests me now is the more mundane and normal things of life.. like enjoying a cup of home made hot chocolate... I don't really care how spiritually advanced I am nor do I look for answers about the mysteries of life.... I enjoy reading beauty blogs or watch dancers perform. I understand that there is beauty in the mundane and usual things of life.

Self Acceptance : I used to have a tough time accepting some parts of myself...but now I am starting to accept and love myself exactly the way I am. I can't be another person, nor can they be me. I learnt this lesson from my cat. He has no clue what his personality is, nor does he think as much as human beings do...but he accepts himself and doesn't try to change himself or beat himself up..in fact all plants and animals are peaceful being themselves...and I think it's so important that even humans learn "self-acceptance".

Being Selective : While I was in my early 20's I wasn't bothered about my living space and the food I ate, etc. A bowl of Maggi was more than enough for dinner. Sometimes I would just have a burger at night....I now feel more aware of what I surround myself with...and what my habits are... now I am more aware of what I eat, the space I live in, who I let into my life....in short, I'm learning to be selective and cater to my needs more. I respect my needs and I filter out the rest.

Relationships / Friendships : As we evolve, the people in our life change. Some of the people I never thought would become my friends are the ones I talk to the most these days. Some friendships have stood the tests of time and life.. and these are people I truly cherish. They are people with whom I can talk for hours not get bored. It's quality over quantity now...unlike a few years ago when I was too immature to be aware of this.. 

Let Go : At the end of the day, everything is an experience. There are nice experiences and there are the lessons. The most important thing I tell myself is to let them all go..so that new experiences can happen..I have been the kind who usually has a tough time letting go of experiences and things from the past...but in reality, what is truly there is the present moment..it is really all we have... so no matter what I did or didn't do, the mistakes I made, the people who went wrong in my life... I make a habit to let them go and make space for the new..

Social Media : I used to be a social media addict...I loved putting my life up there...and now... I rarely put up anything related to my personal life up there...I occasionally do upload a pic, but I'm very aware of the audience and I use a lot of privacy settings.. . I use social media for my work, but I don't share my life up there... Instead, if there is something really important, I inform my friends and family personally..instead of putting up my life on stage... I am really becoming a private person..and it's so beautiful! It feels new and very nice..

A lot of small things and big things change in our lives..as we evolve...it's all part of maturing and moving ahead on our life's journey... These changes are nothing to be afraid of..they are normal and we all go through them at some point in our lives..

So, keep evolving, keep changing and keep being you!