Before Sunrise (1995)
Before Sunrise directed by Richard Linklater is about a young man named Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and young woman named Celine (Julie Delpy) who meet each other on a train. In a spontaneous act, Jessie is able to convince Celine to get off the train to spend an evening with him in Vienna.
For Linklater, it was important for him to have gender balance present in the film. He was aware that this film would essentially consist mostly of dialogue between a man and a woman. In order to achieve this balance, David Sims states that Linklater collaborated with actress and writer Kim Krizan in attempt to make that balance. Petr Knava even remarks that Linklater went to Krizan because he "loved the way her mind worked- (it was) a constant stream of confident and intelligent ideas". Due to his choice of seeking a female for help in having legitimacy in what a female thinks, says, or acts, this movie is deemed a success. The idea of having a balance or being level-headed when it came to having a female perspective involved can also be seen in the film Adaptation (screenplay written by Charlie Kaufman) that Sergio Rizzo brings up in his article "(In)fidelity Criticism and the Sexual Politics of Adaptation" but without success. Rizzo states that Kaufman's "choice of The Orchid Thief does take place within a gendered context that betrays a level of anxiety about the obligations of a screenwriter in assuming a "feminine position"... in his apparent failure to translate a “woman’s book,” Charlie assumes a feminine position, or, as he says of his failure to master the material at one point in the film, “I’m fucked”. Kaufman expresses his proximity to the feminine abyss in more polite terms. By the end of his struggle to adapt the novel, he says, 'it was almost hysteria'".
Sims also mentions that this movie "consists primarily of low-key conversations between two twenty-somethings" and because Linklater chose to make the movie this way, it shows a progression in his directoral skills in making conventional storytelling. What also helps elevate the audience's engagement to watching the movie show the ever-lasting conversations being held between Jesse and Celine is Linklater's use of camera angles and shots. One thing I noticed in this film (and in the other two) was that when Jesse and Celine were talking to each other across from one another, Linklater opts to use over-the-shoulder/ reverse angle shots, which aids in the idea that Jesse of Celine is having a one-on-one conversation with the viewer(s) as if they themselves were Jesse of Celine. Now, when they were not talking to each other while being across the other, they were talking right next to each other (shoulder to shoulder almost). In those cases, Linklater does not use an over-the-shoulder shot, but opts to have the a lot of medium shots and full shots following thier every expression. It comes as if the audience is walking backwards in front of them or walking behind them watching these two having an in-depth conversation.
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Left: example of over-the-shoulder Right: example of medium shot
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The Trilogy
Before Sunrise – 20 years later
(In)fidelity Criticism and the Sexual Politics of Adaptation – Sergio Rizzo
The Trilogy
Before Sunrise – 20 years later
(In)fidelity Criticism and the Sexual Politics of Adaptation – Sergio Rizzo