Before Sunrise

How this film uses it

The entire film is pretty much a series of unbroken conversations (on the train, in the café, at the cemetery). Each one brings the couple closer as they keep adding honest thoughts.

Where to see it

The fake phone call scene in a cafe. In a roleplay, they each call a friend and describe the other. The pretend setup gives them enough distance to say what they really feel.

How this film uses it

Jesse and Céline do more than talk. They argue, give ground and push back. They fall in love as intellectual equals, and the film never lets either one be simply right.

Where to see it

The conversation about past lives. The topic starts as a game and ends up showing how emotionally exposed they both are.

How this film uses it

Hawke and Delpy sound like they are improvising, even when the lines are scripted. Their sentences trail off, interrupt each other and circle back. That is why their closeness is as convincing as a real conversation.

Where to see it

The outdoor restaurant scene. Jesse confesses that he is cynical about romance. It comes out in stops and starts, and he sounds truly unsure.

How this film uses it

Linklater's camera walks alongside Jesse and Céline and never leads them. It looks at Vienna plainly, without trying to make the city pretty. The couple come across as 2 people in a place first and as the leads of a romance second.

Where to see it

The long walk through the Prater park. The camera watches casually from a distance, which makes Vienna feel like a city people actually live in.

How this film uses it

The film begins on a train and ends at a train station, where Céline's train is about to leave. The places they visited the night before also come back, now empty. Because of that return, the ending feels like a held breath and the story doesn't feel closed.

Where to see it

The final montage of the empty locations. In the early morning, the film revisits the café, the park bench and the bridge without the characters.