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Before Sunrise poster

Before Sunrise

year 1995decade 90sdirector Richard Linklatergenre Romancegenre Drama

101 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Ethan Hawke Jesse
Julie Delpy Céline
Andrea Eckert Wife on Train
Hanno Pöschl Husband on Train
Karl Bruckschwaiger Guy on Bridge
Tex Rubinowitz Guy on Bridge
Erni Mangold Palm Reader
Dominik Castell Street Poet
Harald Waiglein Guitarist in Club
Bilge Jeschim Belly Dancer

Before Sunrise | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennessey
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Listening booth (two choices); first train conversation (one choice)

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:38:57Read transcript
  • The opening argument between an older couple works as a thematic introduction to the series.
  • The translation reveals that the couple are trading accusations about alcohol and marriage.
  • Jesse's time-machine pitch persuading Celine to leave the train is praised as smart and funny.
  • The hosts report that Delpy helped shape a pitch she believed would actually get Celine off the train.
  • The long one-shot bus conversation about souls is praised both for Jesse's theory and the uninterrupted staging.
  • The listening booth is selected as a winner because the wordless scene lets the actors' glances carry the attraction.
  • Linklater reportedly withheld the song so Hawke and Delpy would hear it for the first time during the take.
  • The Ferris wheel and amusement-park material, including the kiss, are nominated.
  • The fortune teller and the question of love versus excelling at one thing are praised.
  • The street poet and his poem are nominated as a sweet, effective encounter.
  • The imaginary phone calls are praised as a charming device that should not work but does.
  • Jesse talking the bartender into giving them a bottle of wine is nominated despite practical questions.
  • Celine's idea that intimacy grows from knowing another person's habits is highlighted as idealistic wisdom.
  • The goodbye, park sequence, trains, and empty locations revisited at dawn form another leading ending choice.
  • The first train conversation is selected for its naturalistic progression from awkwardness to connection.
  • The cutaway that leaves sex unresolved, followed by the harpsichord window and imagined photograph, is a smaller final nominee.

What’s Aged the Best?

Train settings; Jesse’s conversational bits; Hawke–Linklater collaboration; actor co-writing; Vienna; French-girl archetype; aging-with-the-characters sequels; Cemetery of the Nameless; June 1994 setting; lines about loss and connection

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:35Read transcript
  • Train travel and Jesse's rehearsed conversational theories are praised as central pleasures.
  • Jesse's childhood story is connected to the later Boyhood, making Hawke and Linklater's collaboration feel continuous.
  • The European train-pass experience is recommended as an enduring form of travel.
  • Casting actors who can write and letting them shape the characters is described as a sophisticated filmmaking method.
  • Vienna in summer and the film's French-girl archetype remain appealing.
  • Sequels that let characters age in real time are praised as a rare, still potent device.
  • The Cemetery of the Nameless is praised as an evocative place and idea.
  • The story's June 16–17, 1994 dates place the farewell on the day of the O. J. Simpson chase, World Cup opener, Knicks-Rockets Game 5, Rangers parade, and Arnold Palmer's final U.S. Open round.
  • The line about realizing how little an ex thinks about you is singled out as painfully universal.
  • The film's claim that magic lies in trying to understand another person is treated as its central wisdom.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Céline in Jesse’s lap; Jesse against Vienna architecture; wet cobblestone descent; ending

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:59Read transcript
  • Celine with her head in Jesse's lap before the Archduke Albrecht statue is nominated.
  • Jesse sitting on the railing against the building is nominated for the composition.
  • The wet cobblestone descent is praised for its Michael Mann-like texture.
  • The ending is also nominated.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Closing song — tentative

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:37Read transcript
  • No actor is identified as a weak link, and two participants say they have none.
  • Bill considers whether the closing song could have made the film feel more specifically 1995. — Bill Simmons
  • The Jayhawks' “Blue” and Green Day's “Good Riddance” are rejected alternatives.
  • The Innocence Mission's “Bright as Yellow” is Bill's proposed replacement. — Bill Simmons
  • Bill concedes that the original song helps keep the movie timeless and that his answer is forced. — Bill Simmons

What’s Aged the Worst?

Screenwriting-credit and pay disputes

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:02Read transcript
  • Julie Delpy's later dispute over screenwriting credit is the only serious negative raised.
  • A pay-gap discussion is acknowledged but not treated as a flaw in the movie itself.
  • The phone-free wandering and asking strangers for help would unfold very differently now.
  • The lack of navigation apps makes the movie feel more fantastical today than in 1995.
  • A younger viewer finding the movie too talkative is offered as a contemporary reception example, not a settled defect.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Jesse anticipating live streaming; Gen X indie crossover universe; more romantic than Casablanca, Gone with the Wind or Titanic

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:41Read transcript
  • Jesse's proposed 24/7 public-access feed is compared to YouTube, Instagram Reels, and TikTok.
  • A host argues that ordinary indie films should have character crossovers rather than leaving shared universes to comic-book movies.
  • Grover from Kicking and Screaming is imagined passing through Vienna after Prague.
  • Characters from Singles and Barcelona are offered as more Gen X crossover possibilities.
  • A White Shadow/St. Elsewhere crossover is recalled as a television example.
  • Before Sunrise is called more romantic than Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Titanic because it needs no life-and-death stakes.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Street poet (two choices); palm reader (one choice)

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:36Read transcript
  • The two men inviting Jesse and Celine to their play are nominated.
  • The palm reader, street poet, and benevolent bartender complete the candidate list.
  • Two responses choose the poet, praising the poem and its effect on the couple.
  • Another chooses the palm reader and notes the actress's long Austrian career.

Apex Mountain

Eurail trains; Austrian palm readers; littering; Kath Bloom; Cemetery of the Nameless; listening booths disputed

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:54Read transcript
  • Hawke's apex is debated as Reality Bites followed by a re-apex at Training Day.
  • Boyhood and the Purge/Sinister period are proposed as a third Hawke wave strengthened by his public storytelling.
  • Julie Delpy's apex is placed at Before Sunset.
  • Eurail trains, Austrian palm readers, and the film's conspicuous littering are easy answers.
  • Vienna is compared with The Third Man and a Billy Joel song as a cultural apex.
  • The first date is compared with Neil and Eadie in Heat and Colin Farrell and Gongley in Miami Vice.
  • The film is called a powerful date movie that can expose a weak relationship.
  • Gen X is placed around 1994–95, with Reality Bites and Kicking and Screaming as reference points.
  • The listening booth is compared to Philip Seymour Hoffman hearing jazz in The Talented Mr. Ripley.
  • Kath Bloom and the Cemetery of the Nameless receive direct apex answers.

Cruise or Hanks?

Cruise (two choices); Hanks (one choice)

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:26Read transcript
  • Cruise is favored for his motor-mouth energy and is imagined making the Vienna night hilariously intense.
  • Cocktail and Jerry McGuire are cited as evidence that Cruise could handle extended romantic conversation.
  • Hanks is proposed as a plausible young alternative but judged less neurotic than Jesse.
  • The final tally is two votes for Cruise and one for Hanks.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Longlegs as palm reader; Wilford Brimley; Tony Romo; Daniel Plainview as poet; Tom Brady

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:54Read transcript
  • The category introduces a long list of recurring commentary personas and alternate performers.
  • Nell and Harley-Maze are included in the rapid-fire roster, but their identities are not safely resolved from the undiarized transcript.
  • Longlegs is requested as the fortune teller.
  • Wilford Brimley narrates Jesse's failed trip to Spain in the style of The Firm.
  • The Ferris-wheel seduction is performed as a football-broadcast call.
  • Daniel Plainview recites the street poem and turns it into a milkshake riff.
  • Tom Brady narrates Jesse's poise and the strength of his romantic offensive line.

Just One Oscar

Richard Linklater — direction or shared screenplay

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:43Read transcript
  • Linklater is the initial answer; directing versus a shared screenplay award is left open.
  • The screenplay would recognize the shared authorship discussed by the hosts.
  • The next two trilogy films are noted as later screenplay nominees.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Connection for 24 hours over no connection; human connection as religion

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:03Read transcript
  • A brief but real connection is valued over a life without connection.
  • Human connection is framed as the real religion of the world.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:53Read transcript
  • Richard Linklater is the first proposed winner, while Ethan Hawke is the initial alternative.
  • The case for Linklater is that Hawke already had Reality Bites while this film creates the trilogy central to Linklater's identity.
  • The Hawke-Linklater collaboration is compared with De Niro-Scorsese and Paul Newman-George Roy Hill partnerships.
  • The trilogy's crowd-pleasing, formally inventive scope supports the final Linklater choice.
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Richard Linklater