Sunrise, sunset, sunrise

So I said in January I had some things to write about and then never got around to it. Well, most of it has gone to the back of my mind, but there was one thing I still remembered…and it was the main thing I was going to write about anyway.

So, like, I recently watched, again, the movies “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset”. Only this time I watched the second one first. So, reverse order.

It was interesting how different they were…well, wait. Let me add one more thing. The first time I watched these movies I was in my late 20s. 27 or 28. This time, I was (or am) 33.

So as I was saying, it was interesting how different these movies were the second time (or my second time) around. Also interesting watching them in reverse order.

The first time I watch these movies, I liked the first one better. My sentiments were fairly similar to Jesse’s. But also, perhaps the way of life was rather similar to mine. Chance meetings with interesting people while travelling…and the belief that possibilities will always come ‘round again.

The second movie (“Before Sunset”) I like well enough, but didn’t quite see eye to eye with the perspectives. But I could gather that both Jesse and Celine were not entirely happy with the way their lives had gone, but the movie and conversation felt a little flat to me.

So fast-forwarding about 6 years later… to the present…my feelings toward these movies have changed considerably. About two months ago, Before Sunset came back into my mind and I wanted to see again. Just the second one.

So I watched it…and it was a completely different movie to me. What was a flat movie now was an incredibly painful movie. Now, I could feel what the characters were going through and it was excruciating.

With this new experience from the second movie, I watched the first movie the next day… And, this time I found the first movie a little flat…maybe even silly. Definitely foolish.

But most of all, the ending was different for me. Where the first time I watched Before Sunrise, I was filled with this hope and excitement of them meeting again… This time I felt like Cassandra. I wanted to scream at the TV and tell them not to do this. Don’t leave it to chance!

But they didn’t hear me. Nothing changed. And this ending became more painful than the entirety of the sequel.

But it couldn’t be avoided. Even if they had heard me, they most likely wouldn’t have believed me. Just a process they had to go through. And if by chance, they had heard me, and followed my advice, they would have been deprived of the experience and wouldn’t have been fully able to understand why they listened to me.

Anyway, that’s what I wanted to say back in January.