The 9 to 5 Hippie is back with post #2 and to discuss nothing other than....relationships....yes....that complicated subject that everyone gets involved in their lives (more than one time sometimes)
I have to start by saying that movies have been a huge influence in my life, as another friend told me once, I live my life as if it was a movie...sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing...movies can be funny, sad, scary, filled with non-stop action, get you hooked on the script or not, and leave us with a happy ending most of the times........there's the odd time where we leave the theater in awe.
But in the category of Romance, I have always look forward to a certain movie, actually 3 to be more precise....They are: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight.
In 1995, Director Richard Linklater brought us Before Sunrise, a romantic movie with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy about 2 twenty something teens who randomly meet on a train in Europe and decide to hop-off in Vienna to spend 24 hours together before going separate ways to continue with their lives.
I was 19 at that time, living in Venezuela, going to 2nd year of Law school and enjoying the transition from my teens to adulthood. I was a movie buff and every week (if not every day) I used to go to a video store (where I worked as a manager 2 years later) to rent movies, they had a shelf with all those movies that were recent but didn't came with the option of Spanish subtitles. My English was good enough at the time that I felt confident on renting them and at the very worse case scenario, I'd recur to the TV caption for the deaf and read them in English. While looking for what would be my next choice I saw this VHS with a couple on the cover. She was laying on his lap, looking at each other with a great sunrise as a background. It looked like nothing I'd be tempted to rent but something mysteriously caught my attention, I only knew Ethan Hawke from Dead Poets Society and The Explorers, Julie Delpy? Never heard of her...but again, something made me grab the VHS take it to the counter and leave the store with it to pop-it into my VCR and home and hope for the best.
Then it happened, I was hooked with the movie. No action, no guns, no comedy, just two young kids walking through the streets of Vienna, having the most random but intriguing conversations and almost in real time. Why would this kept me glued to the TV? Well....for starters, I was around the same age at the time of the characters....and having the willing to travel in my head, this seemed like a great way to enjoy a trip. You're on a train, don't know anyone, end-up meeting this random girl to whom you feel an attraction and so does she, you only have 24 hours before you catch a plane and you take a chance into asking her out and try to know the most you can about her and live a life/relationship in the span of an overnight. Sounds challenging? I'm up for it! From that moment, that movie was my north of what a relationship should be....so intense that you have to live it like you only have 24 hours, even if you have more time.....the dialogues between them and their different points of view were so enjoyable and even a particular scene where they're at this cafe and they decided to mimic a phone conversation to their friends who are probably mortified waiting for them both and why haven't they arrived to destination on the planned date. They use this fake conversation to describe each other, IN FRONT OF EACH OTHER! I thought this was so clever...to hear about yourself from someone you just met, to know if you have captivated him/her instead of boring him/her to death. I wonder how that scene would have played nowadays where technology is a nuisance and if they would have been checking on their phones and Facebook the whole 24 hours.
The movie ends (and too bad if you haven't seen it) by them saying goodbye at the train. Regretting their original pact of not forcing the things by trying to make it more than what it is, a one night thing and in a matter of seconds trying to see how can they see each other again. They keep a bit of mystery and pride in their decision by not exchanging phone numbers or addresses, of course internet wasn't as friendly in 1995 as it is now and Facebook wasn't even there to ruin our lives and steal our time. How to end an eclectic night? with an eclectic solution, they would meet again at the same train station in 6 months time from that day. Movie ends....
That ending haunted me for years to come....what happened to Celine and Jesse? Do they meet? Do they forget about each other? Do they find someone else? Are they as traumatized as myself with the outcome? Remember these guys are around my age and in my head....we're almost buddies.
Fast forward 9 years, it is 2004-2005 and I am now living in Canada, my life took a drastic 180 degree spin where I am in Canada, married, no kids, working and enduring the challenges of adulthood at 28. I am miles away from my friends, parents and history....I have been living in Canada since 2001 and working my way up into what would be a new life and new beginning. In 2004 if I remember correctly, I was working 2 jobs in Montreal if I remember correctly. A full time job at a pet shop at a mall and then a part time at a Canada Post outlet at the same mall. Sometimes I'd leave one job to go straight to the other one.
One time having a conversation with my ex-wife (yes, we divorced later) about movies, I decided to open up about my view on romanticism and Before Sunrise came up. As I am describing the story to her and I remember my "friends in film" Celine and Jesse, she interrupts me almost at the end of my story to tell me "Have you seen the sequel?"
"Is there a sequel?" - How come I have not known this? Oh well, I think I've been so busy with my own life that I lost track about theirs. Truly enough, without people demanding for it, Before Sunrise had became such an indie hit that Linklater reunited Hawke and Delpy for a sequel called Before Sunset in 2004
"You're gonna feel in love with the french girl, she plays guitar you know?" - My ex says.
Now, I'n on a mission to find this movie, I rent the DVD and watch it on a quiet afternoon, all by myself, no distractions and it feels like when you reunite with friends you haven't seen in well....9-10 years.
Before Sunset picks up exactly 9 years later Before Sunrise, we are all older now (I include myself too) and they are in their mid 30s. Jesse is a writer promoting his last book at a bookstore in Paris called Shakespeare in Love. The movie starts with him talking about his novel which happens to be about that one night with that french girl he meets at the train and spends a night with in Vienna. He let us know they never met again, but not more than 10 minutes into the movie and he turns and there she is, Celine, looking at him almost like a ghost. He is in shock and after the conference, he goes to meet her and talk. He showed up in Vienna 6 months later, she didn't, but now they have the opportunity to catch up and see where they stand right now, with themselves and with each other, but there's only one small problem. Now they have only a couple of hours to resume those 9 years before Jesse has to take a plane back to the US. Back to his wife and kid.
They stroll through the streets of Paris, have coffee, jump on a boat, walk through a park, talk about life, politics, work, love and most importantly...about the "What if". Who hasn't been haunted at some point of their lives by the ghost of the "What if?". Something so out of our hands that we can't fix because we don't have the capacity to go back in time and make it different. We can either choose to torment us or accept it, but...there's the option of realizing the decision we made at that time was the wrong one and prevent us from making it again. Sorta "Fix your present and change your future" type of message.
After an hour and change of dialogue, were we realize they are dissatisfied with their lives, they end at Celine's apartment. She invites him over for tea, he is now borderline with the deadline to get to the airport on time and not miss his flight. We feel the nervousness with him because we can't help to think about our day by day lives were everything is dictated by time and sometimes we don't even have time for ourselves due to responsibilities or commitments. But right now we're cheering for Jesse, we want him to miss that plane, we want to know more about not only those 9 years that have passed, but the future to come. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you like to know more about that special someone who "got away" and you lost track for such a long time, but she dwelt in your mind for at least one part of your day, every time you listen to a familiar song, every time you passed by a spot....I definitely would like to make time stop so I could take my sweet time into connect that past with my present. Even Celine warns Jesse "Mister....you're gonna miss that plane!" as she mocks some sexy dance moves to the music of Nina Simone...he smiles and plays with his wedding ring as he answers "I know"......the movie is about to reach its climax and we as spectators can't hide the smile in our faces and then....fades to black and credits roll.
One more time we are left with the bittersweet ending note of the "What if" Does he responsibly leaves the apartment and goes to the airport to go back to his ordinary unhappy life with his wife and kid or does he misses the plane, stays and tries to make up for the time lost. We don't know. But I personally feel relieved he had a second chance. I am more satisfied with this ending. I like to believe that he remembers that night in Vienna, the conversations, the walks, and all that was so intense that would have been a terrible mistake to lose it one more time. I eject the DVD thinking that.
Let's move 8 more years and we're now in 2012. I got divorced, broken hearten, now living in Toronto, working as a Sound tech freelancer, decided to cycle across Canada in order to heal myself, met a girl just before I started, told her what it needed to be done, she accepted it and waited for me but not before telling me, on our first date at a sushi place, while talking about movies, that her favorite romantic movie were in fact two movies....yes....you guessed right....Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. We spent a good chunk of that first date talking about those movies and how have they affected us, and although she is 7 years younger, we share the same passion for Jesse and Celine's romantic voyage.
It's the end of 2012, I came back from my 3-month trip and we're on full relationship mode and there's a rumor that there will be a third entry of the series called Before Midnight coming sometime in 2013. Exactly nine years after the last one, it has been already filmed, in Greece, in the process of post production, no-one knew about it and it came like a big surprise to all the Before fans. All we have to do is wait. In the meantime, I am playing with a band called The Sandy Pockets which they reversion tunes from the 40s and 50s giving them a re-vamped flavor. At the audition I thought they were original songs since I never heard any of them, but one particular song called "How Glad I am (you came)" by Nancy Wilson caught my attention so much that brought back those memories of Jesse and Celine and made me think it'd make a great soundtrack for the Before Midnight trailer.
Ohh well....there was no information about this movie, the suspense was killing me, and I was suffering from weird insomnia during that time. So one night I stayed up until 4am elaborating a fan-made trailer for the movie and posting it on Youtube. The result? Thousands of views and comments celebrating my work and not only that but I came up with an email from a reporter from the Toronto Star wanting to interview me about this fake trailer that had generated so many hits in anticipation for the movie. She got a phone interview one morning before I was heading to work as a bicycle courier in Toronto and just days before Valentine's day. I won't talk more about the interview, here's the link to it below
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2013/02/08/valentines_day_a_fans_tribute_to_the_perfect_love_story.html
When the movie premieres, I go with excitement with my girlfriend. Both eager to see what happened to their lives. They are now just a bit older than me, in their 40's and I am 36. I wanna see if it worked out for them. The perfect relationship. The one I have always aimed for. The only movie that managed to guide my idealistic love life.
The movie starts with Jesse at the airport, in Greece, saying goodbye to his son who's flying alone back to Chicago (where he lives with his mom) and outside the airport is Celine, waiting for him, on the cellphone and two cute twin girls on the back seat asleep. Their kids. He missed the plane, they drive back to the house where they're vacationing having those conversations about life, work, politics and love that have always characterized them. These time it is different, it is from a more adult point of view that I can relate and sometimes, sarcasm and humor plays a big part which I enjoy more. Half of the movie I am charmed to see them grow old together. But there's some bitterness between them, some distance, they walk to a hotel to spend the night away from friends and family, a night for themselves, just like in the first movie. Once they arrived, what happened in that room, really marked me at the time. Kinda shattered my ideal relationship for a bit. They get into an argument, life has taken over where passion used to be. They spend the last 30 minutes fighting and insulting each other, throwing low punches and hurting each other where it hurt the most. They have grown up, they grew tired of each other and they can't be in the same room together for more than 15 minutes. What happened to that lovely couple that walked Vienna with so much innocence and curiosity about each other? Or to that other couple in Paris that was laughing and trying to make time stop so they could spend more time with each other without having to go separate ways?
What happens to all of us at some point of a relationship. I hated this third entry for a good couple of weeks until I realized that "There's no perfect relationship"...yes, it took me almost 20 years to realize that and bring Jesse and Celine down from my pedestal but it was well worth the try. After re-watching it, it came to terms with the conclusion....they don't end apart (or maybe they do) but at least they try to stay together...and that's the secret. To try. That's were the real battle resides. Many couples break-up for silly things, or important ones but how many really try to stay together and fix it? Well, Jesse & Celine do, and for that reason, they're back on being my heroes, in a more realistic way now that I know they can have their downs like every other couple and they loose it on each other.
How all this long post relates to me you might be asking? This was more of a movie review than a personal anecdote, well, not quite. Here's were this long post comes back to the author and it is that I am still with my girlfriend after 4 years, we have had our ups and downs and we're still trying. We're very much in love with each other and for our first ever trip together...in 2014 we decided to take a dashing 10-day trip to Europe where we stopped at Vienna and Paris to recreate the steps of our personal heroes in our favorite movies. In a way I guess to mold our relationship to what will be next.
Trying to catch up with the years we weren't together since 1995 and the first movie came out until 2012 when we met for the first time.
I'd like to describe our present moment as the "Sunset" one, where we're still in the catching up moment, happy to be with each other, discovering new things we didn't knew or noticed and sharing many laughs every time we can. Who knows, maybe we will grow old together, we will fight, want to be apart, and say nasty things to each other, but if that times comes, I'll be prepared, cause I've seen it before and I know it can be fixed and most importantly, I have found my Celine and that alone is worth giving any situation a try to make it better and stay together.....love you M.C.
Until the next post.......the 9 to 5 Hippie says good-bye. (and go watch these movies if you haven't)
