Before Sunrise

I think everyone would secretly love meeting a stranger on a train and telling them the entirety of their life story. Its kind of a romantic concept – a relationship on short notice – but entirely impractical. They jumped in head first with their self-disclosure, which cultivated what I perceived as a false sense of comfort and intimacy.

Jesse and Celine are both extremely whimsical people, but it seems as though they’re both stuck in their memories. Jesse acknowledged this tendency to dwell on the past when he said, “I’ve heard all of my stories. I’m sick of myself.” For him, especially, it seemed like a new person was his excuse to relive the past and retell his stories.

The beauty of a pick up romance is that they can completely construct their image of the beloved to suit their own desires. They were able go create their own ideas of where the other has been and where they are going. With a twenty-four hour romance like this, there are no preconceived notions or judgment – just validation.

This film was focused on learning another person through conversation, but it took a very different approach than most. In Annie Hall, we didn’t learn the truth about the characters’ personalities until we watched them fight. In the scenes from early in their relationship, we see them trying to squeeze themselves into gender roles and make intelligent comments and observations. It wasn’t until their fight and therapist scenes that we get a better idea of who they truly are. Before Sunrise, on the other hand, shows the early stages of the relationship with shudders on. It’s almost as if we see their relationship how they see it – completely blinded by their infatuation and oblivious to logic. The film portrays them as strangers who come to know each other intimately in twenty-four hours, but how well can you know someone after a single day with them? In a day, you only have time to learn the image of the other person that they put forth, not the little crevices of their personality – the way they quiver when they’re angry or how they always leave the empty milk carton in the fridge. It generally isn’t until later in the relationship that true colors begin to shine through. Jesse and Celine are simply affected by the illusion that they know each other intimately, which contributes to their attraction and desire for one another.

I wish they had been able to stay together, but if they had, the film would have been exactly like every other chick flick known to man. I think it was better that they parted ways – the image of the beloved was unshattered and perfectly preserved. I think both will hold onto the image of their ideal beloved and for this reason, they will see each other again. 

Annie Hall

I wish all romantic comedies were like this, and maybe society would have a more realistic idea of what a relationship is. I appreciated how honest and raw the film was about the couple arguing, having second thoughts about each other, and having problems in the bedroom.

Alvy is constantly repeating the quote, “I would never want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.” This plays on the idea that you want what you can’t have, and what you can have, you don’t want. This theme carries through to their sex life as well. At the beginning of their relationship, when Annie is more interested in sex, Alvy is not. When the tables turn and Annie is disinterested, their dead bedroom becomes Alvy’s main focus.

In a scene from his childhood, a teacher is shaming Alvy for kissing the girl next to him. She then went around the classroom asking about where each of the other students ended up as an adult. The students who didn’t act on their desires were incredibly successful. It seems like the screenwriter is trying to imply that success comes from controlling desire and impulse. This concept is extended in Alvy and Annie’s careers. Although their relationship appeared to jumpstart both of their careers, it wasn’t until they’d broken up or were becoming distant that either saw success in their line of work.

What I found most unusual about this film was the sequence of events. A typical romantic comedy would start with the meet cute, the relationship would escalate to a conflict, then, of course, the conflict would be resolved and the couple lives happily ever after. Annie Hall, however, started with the couple arguing and the meet cute didn’t come until later. The audience sees the cringe-worthy moments of their relationship before the ‘cute stuff’.  It gives an aura of imperfection to both of the characters and their relationship. Annie is not the ‘end all be all’ for Alvy and vice versa. They strongly desire one another at various points in the film, but we’re never under the illusion that they are perfect, or that they will be together forever.

This film did a great job at fairly accurately conveying what it’s like to go through the ups and downs of an interpersonal relationship. As they learned more about each other, Annie began to appear in memories that never involved her. I thought this was a brilliant way to convey what it’s like to learn a new person and almost infiltrate their life, even the pieces in which you are not involved. It was easy to see that for Alvy especially, this relationship had permeated his entire life, from childhood up to current day.