Do you believe in soulmates? Do you believe that one person out there has a piece of your self that finding your soulmate means your everlasting happiness? And by the way, where do you find him/her anyway?
As much as I want to believe in this definion since I think I have found a soulmate in the Hubby, I’m just a little skeptical about the idea of having a one-to-one soulmate/partner in your lifetime. What about those others who have remained (or chosen) to be single? Does this mean they have been deprived by fate to find one and that happiness will always elude them? What about those who have found several true loves in their lifetimes? Has destiny been too kind to them that they have met more than one?
I believe I have several soulmates. Oh it doesn’t have to be a lifetime partner. For me, it’s more than physical attraction. It’s more of an emotional and mental connection. So yes, everybody has a soulmate, or soulmates, if you please. It could be a platonic friend, a past lover, or even your sister. You just have to open your eyes and heart to recognize them. And once you do, thank your lucky stars and try to keep them in your heart.
Should we feel miserable not finding one?
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Movie Review: Before Sunrise (1995) / Before Sunset (2004)
American tourist Jesse and French student Celine meet by chance on the train from Budapest to Vienna. Sensing that they are developing a connection, Jesse asks Celine to spend the day with him in Vienna, and she agrees. Passing the time before his scheduled flight the next morning. The two spend barely a few hours together, but they have connected and found a soulmate in each other. They decided to meet again exactly six months after at the same train station where they painfully separated.
After nine years, Jesse, and Celine meet again when he arrives in Paris for a reading of his new book. As they have only a few hours until his plane leaves, they stroll through Paris, talking about their experiences, views and what happened in between the time that they were separated. They realized they have both romanticized their first meeting, and that no one has connected to each of their hearts ever since.
My Review:
Hands down—THE Best love story movie and sequel of all time. The plots of both films are very simple. Jesse meets Celine on a train. They spend one night just talking and pouring their hearts out, then say goodbye to each other. They promised to meet. End of the first movie. Did they meet? Did they reconnect? The audience is left hanging, and thinking. After nine years, (and the movie was really made after nine years), they meet again, but they only have a few hours to catch up on each other’s lives before Jesse’s flight back to America. They ended up in Celine’s apartment, and she saying, “Baby, you’re gonna miss that plane.” Jesse says, “I know.” End of the movie. There are still questions to be had. Will Jesse divorce his wife? Will it be just another one night stand? Or will they continue to be lovers for the rest of their lives?
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy were just amazing in their subtle acting. You feel the electricity running between them even though they were not touching. There’s nothing complicated in the scenes. The dialogues are natural, heartfelt, honest, real. One can easily relate to how these two lovers were separated by time and circumstances to finally find each other again. Even if we are not sure that they would end up forever, at least we know they met again.
Love doesn’t get any better than that, noh?
Trivia:
The idea for the movie Before Sunrise came from a night director Richard Linklater spent walking around Philadelphia with Amy, a woman he met.
Jesse and Celine met on June 16th, which is the same day featured in James Joyce's "Ulysses". That book describes three characters who roam throughout Dublin on June 16th, 1904. June 16th is also the day James Joyce met his life partner Nora Barnacle. He managed to talk her into running away with him to Paris, which is where the sequel Before Sunset (2004) is set. In "Before Sunset" Celine meets up with Jesse during a book signing for his novel about their encounter, as they walk out the name of the store is "Shakespeare and Co." which is the publishing company owned by Sylvia Beach, who was the first to publish Joyce's "Ulysses".
Before Sunset was made 9 years after the first film, Before Sunrise, which is the length of time between the events in each story.
Since the film takes place during the mid-late afternoon, it was the only time of day director Richard Linklater would shoot the scenes in the film. He felt it added to the hyper reality of the film, and often relied on the actors to get perfect takes at the right time.
Noteworthy too is that the film takes place essentially in real time, i.e. the time elapsed in the story is also the run time of the film. Furthermore, the sequel was also released nine years after Before Sunrise, the same amount of time that has lapsed in the plot since the events of the first movie.
Ethan Hawke's character Jesse is in a failing marriage with a woman he married because she had become pregnant and is presumably about to commit adultery. Soon after the film's release, Hawke's real-life wife Uma Thurman, whom he had married while she was pregnant with their first child, filed for divorce for adultery.
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