Before Sunrise - Movie revi...
Before Sunrise is the first film in the trilo...
By Reanna Quitzon1407
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I was a kid when I first read Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir of her life after the divorce. And it felt really liberating and when I think of it now, I think it’s because even in our modern world where women do not struggle with masculinity as much or as one would think; they still do, they do all over the world, not in the Middle East or Asia, they do in America, in Europe and everywhere.
But this book is not about a woman’s heartbreak, it’s not about her struggle with men, and it’s not a love story either. It’s about a woman who is simply fed up and decides to run off to find herself, discover her place in the world just as men have been doing since forever.
The film is directed by Ryan Murphy, who also happened to write the screenplay along with Jennifer Salt. The main character, Elizabeth, is played by the fantastic Julia Roberts who adds the perfect amount of complexity and depth to the character.
Her relationship with her husband is ending before it has a chance to fully develop into something. She is a self-confident woman filled with guilt, regret, and disappointment in the world around her and the society we’re living in.
She tries to rebound with a younger man, only to discover that she is drifting away from the person she thought she was or want to become. I am fully aware that this doesn’t seem like a problem, as people suffer from so many bigger issues with the world and the society we live in, but this woman despite her good fortune is still lost, sad, and desperate to find a path that would allow her to go on with her life, counting her blessings where she reached a point of despair.
It’s a feel-good film rather than one that discusses the issue and puts it on the table like it’s the end of the world. Liz understood that it was not the end, she knew that she needs to go on a journey of self-exploring so she can get the independence she always aimed for with the desperate desire to find love.
So, she leaves New York, the city she has been in, and where she is usually most comfortable but is now bleak. She decides to go on a quest and visit three countries, India, Italy, and Indonesia, where she makes new friends, experiences life differently and finds perspective. The script, plot, and narrated scenes reflect the overall theme of the book perfectly.
The religious conversations and messages are not uncomfortable or intense. The food magic happens mostly in Italy, where she gains a lot of weight. Love comes as a pure sense of crush-like relationship with a Brazilian man in Bali, where she becomes friends with a healer and a shaman and finds love!
The best thing about this film is that it doesn’t take the direction of a romantic comedy film. You can watch this film to smile and dream of hot men in exotic countries, as well as gain motivations and direct your emotions into finding positive, simple, and light solutions to your problems.
Updated 3 years ago