American tourist Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets French student Celine (Julie Delpy) on the train. He talks her into getting off and walk around in Vienna. They walk the night away.

I really love this movie when it first came out. There was no hint of the following sequels. It's just a great charming first date movie. The leads have great chemistry. They are both charming and lovely. This is a lot of first-date talk. It doesn't get tie down by artificial plot elements. There is nothing to drive the plot. There is no Holy Grail. There is no quest. There is no destination. There are just two people talking and trying to connect. It stops and starts. They meet two oddly funny Germans who invite them to their play. In a more conventional movie, they would actually go to this play. They forget to go and that's kind of the point. Their journey meanders without much direction. There are also great scenes of long continuous takes. Director Linklater just let the actors go on forever on the streetcar. The whole movie feels refreshing.

Before Sunrise is a minimalist film which features Ethan Hawke and Julia Delpy as two young characters walking and talking.

The film starts off in a train as a German couple argue and the two couple tentatively talk, enjoy each other's company and make an emotional connection.

Both characters share their perspectives on life and love. The film takes place over the course of one day and night as they see shows, view buildings and gardens, drink in cafés and bars and become romantically entangled.

They reveal maybe a little too much about themselves as believe they will never see one another again. Hawke has a plane to catch before sunrise as he returns to the USA while Delpy is going to Paris.

The film has a charm with its Continental European setting but it's also easy to lose attention with all their talking.

It does not quite fly for me although its a brave attempt by director and co-writer Richard Linklater to make an innovative, independent romantic film.

However the film is intriguing because it has spawned two sequels so far. So we do meet the couple in the later stages of their lives.

This has to be one of the most sincere and touching boy-meets-girl movies ever made. While "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Say Anything" deliver nice portrayals, this movies strips down useless subplots and Hollywood divergences. This movie focuses purely on watching the budding of a beautiful romance. You never doubt for a second that the film will lead towards the romantic pairing of these two people. You almost immediately sense the synergy and the chemistry between Jesse and Celine, and it is simply pure joy to watch them find it. This movie is mostly all dialogue -based. But, every conversation between these too is greatly intriguing. What makes this pairing so romantic is how real it is. How in all that conversation, while often having no real bearing on anything critical, you can sense the nuances as these two become more fond and trusting of each other. This is exactly they way you would dream that you meet that special someone. And what makes it so true is that it is not even too fantastic to believe. This could be what would happen if you had been confident enough to strike up a conversation with that person you noticed somewhere random. And what puts the icing on this film is the magnificent backdrop of Vienna in which this film takes place. It just adds to the feeling of romantic nirvana that the film suggests. And no matter how many times I watch this film, I don't think I will ever tire of that.