Before Sunrise Reflections

Before Sunrise was a uniquely beautiful film, which may have restored my faith in the romantic comedy genre by being so different then all the other fluff that is out there. While that isn't supposed to be a jab sat the film industry the statement holds some truth, after all you rarely see a romantic film left with such an open end, and in this particular film the open ending where the lovers vow to reunite in 6 months could reinterpret the entire film in a different way depending on how the viewer feels. For example lets say the viewer is a hopeless romantic and believes that unlike Celine's summer love that she and Jesse will reunite because they have something meaningful, the film now endures as a romantic love type movie. On the other hand the viewer could be more of a skeptic and interpret their romance as a fling like Celine predicted in the park and decide that they will not meet again in 6 months because the encounter was not meaningful enough for them to overcome their own pride/doubts. In the case of the later the film would be better classified as a study of sudden desire and passions that struck two people so violently that they were able to escape the reality of their lives for 24 hours and indulge themselves. However leaving the overall interpretation of the film aside there are many other themes throughout the story that relate to love and desire but on a more subconscious level, one of these themes is setting. The setting of the film caught my attention, it takes place in Vienna, which fun fact is the 9th largest city in Europe yet the pair always manage to be intimately alone in the most public of spaces (public transportation, shops, outdoor venues, restaurants, etc). These places emphasize that the two lovers aren't really experiencing reality for 24 hours, its something more akin to a dream, after all it is pretty sensational to ask a complete stranger to explore a city with you, develop feelings, have sex, and promise to meet again. The intimacy provided by the traditionally none intimate settings produces an overall feeling for the audience akin to a heightened sense of closeness, so that not only does it seem like the two characters are closer then they should be but that you feel the spontaneous connection that could be interpreted as love at first sight. Now that being said this film is not an example of love at first sight which I would characterize as  an infatuation based on appearances but instead it stresses the concept of love through conversation. The entire film is based on these two people having an amazingly open flow of communication which at times makes them rather vulnerable but ultimately it brings them closer together in the short time span that they do share. A prime example of this is the restaurant scene where the first few shots are panning the crowed environment zooming in on people connecting through speaking to each other rather then physical actions, and it is in this scene that Jesse and Celine hold their mock phone call. The mock phone call exercise was one of the most interesting focal points of the film because they use role play, pretending that the other is an impartial friend and use it as a sounding board for any doubts that they are harboring about their budding feelings. By voicing their hidden fears so publicly they are almost freed from the conventions of general romancing and they also manage to use each other to learn more about themselves. While everyone is searching for fulfillment through another person Jesse and Celine find some form of self discovery through their chance meeting because they almost dare themselves to be brutally honest because they quite frankly don't care what a stranger thinks and by being so honest and voicing it aloud for the first time they gain insight on themselves. I think this method of self discovery is like a critique of your work, while you may have worked out every angle and kink to your piece and thought of every weak point to defend actually having someone there to scrutinize your product creates the ultimate critic out of yourself because you realize vantage points that you may not have ever considered until that very moment. Unfortunately for modern romance lovers cannot seem to see that the risks of being this honest are outweighed by all the benefits that can come from it, and it is because of this sense of eternal vulnerability that relationships constantly suffer from lack of communication.

Thoughts on Annie Hall

To me Woody Allen has always been an acquired taste, however that being said Annie Hall was an unexpected treat to the romantic comedy genre because it was able to both fulfill the basic needs of what the viewer desires in a romantic comedy (escapism through transference between the actors and the audience, a lack of complete realism, and a generally light tone throughout the film) however it was also able to challenge the traditional values of the what it is to be a romantic comedy. For example the film did not portray the stereotypical happy ending, it chronicled his unsuccessful history with women in an unflattering light (meaning that it inferred they were all nice girls and that he was the problem), and it showed that the relationship between Annie and Alvy did not fully adhere to traditional gender roles. Alvy's unsuccessful history with women is shadowed by his Groucho Marx quote "I wouldn't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member" which can be interpreted in at least 2 ways effectively the first being that he always wants what he can not have whether it be the girl with the great career of the girl with the great sex drive, he'll never get both at once. It can also be interpreted that Alvy is the type of person who can see right through himself and refuses to believe that someone can accept him flaws and all, for example consider the subtitles in the balcony scene. In that scene Alvy chastises himself in the subtext for his vapid comments on Annie's photography hobby, therefore when a girl falls for him he searches out what is wrong with her, and ultimately thwarting his own romantic escapades.  The difference in gender roles gave the relationship between the two a very interesting dynamic, Alvy came off egocentric in his complaints and dominated most of the dialogue between himself and Annie where stereotypically as the woman Annie would be portrayed as the chatty one. Annie's choice of dress was also outside the normal gender roles where she is often seen donning androgynous menswear to which Alvy has surprisingly no complaint. the way these roles differ from the norm add an unexpected layer of realism to the film, women aren't always girls and men aren't always the strong silent type. The first conversation between Alvy and Annie is also unique because Alvy who represents the average man in all respects of the word is seen as quiet and calm when presented with his beautiful new tennis partner while the beautiful new tennis partner is shy, forward, awkward, and bumbles over her words in a way that you might expect a High school boy to act when he gets his first chance to talk to the head cheerleader. Alvy is also seen as the more squeamish male when confronted with live lobsters running amok and is driven around be Annie. A film with too many challenges to the accepted structure of society can have a cold reception so while Annie Hall does challenge gender roles in many ways it also comfortably conforms to some of the more popular ones such as poor female driving, the female spender, the male pursuing sex and the women rejecting it, the educated male who needs personal space, and the male rescuing the damsel in distress in the spider scene. While most of these roles are far more flattering to Alvy they also act redeem his character and give him some depth while they give Annie some flaws that make her seem more achievable to the audience. By humanizing Annie it reduces the disbelief caused by the unfair distribution of looks in the relationship, it doesn't take much to see that Annie would be considered out of Alvy's league in most circles but they make it work quite successfully. To me the pinnacle of the film came from the scene where Alvy asks random passerby's about relationship, most importantly when he talks to the old woman carrying groceries and to the younger couple walking down the street. The young couple have absolutely no response for Alvy, they are dull shallow and seemingly empty of individual thought or personal opinion as they walk down the street linked arm and arm with sides pressed flush together. This is reflective of how people become when the start dating, the individual becomes lost to the unit, and the two individuals function as a less capable "we", and to Alvy and the audience it foreshadows that he'll be better off single in the end. This being said the old woman carrying groceries carried the main theme of the film with her as well, when Alvy tries to stop her she responds to him famously that  "Love fades." and as simply as that she sums up the film in its entirety, that relationships even the ones that already ended carry and good lesson and memories for those involved and that is why this film does not have the textbook happy ending, instead Allen finishes the film with the lovers reminiscing instead of getting back together.