Before Sunset

... was FANTASTIC! Eliza and I loved it!!

Official Website for "Before Sunset"

This film is not going to appeal to anyone who is completely cynical about romantic love. Oddly, neither Eliza nor I are particularly romantic people in the conventional sense, but this film approaches the concept in a much more realistic way; its treatment is much more subtle and steeped in the awkward moments that occur between two people who've spent years apart physically, only to spend that time continuously and emotionally reliving the short moments they had together one night, nine years ago. All the fantasies collide and internalise/externalise in the 90 real-time minutes they spend together in this film, and I was fascinated by the feeling of fluidity and spontaneity in the cinematography and dialogue. It all felt so real, strangely enough because so much of it felt so familiar -- it was only three months ago that I was in Paris, walking along the bank of the Seine with Claire, and persuading her to take a touristy boat trip along the river. We had conversations of a similar nature, in the shadow of Paris' many bridges overhead and with national landmarks such as the Notre Dame as our backdrop. It had that surreal feeling, the kind where you can be semi-detached from your surroundings, yet feel "in the moment"...

I just checked my phone -- Claire phoned and left a voicemail while I was in the cinema. Her ears must've been burning.