Movies to Inspire — ANDREW HARRIS

Before Sunrise

1995

I remember watching the first two movies of this trilogy shortly before my first ever trip abroad to Italy in 2013, only to have an experience not so different from this story while on that trip. An American guy meets a French girl on a train from Budapest to Vienna and convinces her to spend the night with him walking the streets of Vienna before his morning flight home. It’s virtually all dialogue as the two explore the city after hours and get to know one another through deep, personal, and funny stories. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy play their characters perfectly. The movie is written and directed by my favorite storyteller and fellow Texan, Richard Linklater.

Vienna is very architecturally beautiful and so as the characters glide through the city, it’s easy to imagine yourself navigating the avenues, hopping on trams, and having run ins with quirky Europeans with a new and exotic person who will change everything for you…

Before Sunset

2004

The first film was intended to be a stand alone piece, but nine years later the gang decided to get back together and make an incredible sequel. The characters Céline and Jesse reunite at the famous Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris. Much like the first movie, they wander the streets chatting the entire way, reigniting their feelings from nine years before. They tell about their lives since they last saw each other, and lament over what could have been between them. You can see their connection is still there only this time you’re left with the sensation they won’t be so cavalier with the follow through.

My first travel to Paris was during my extended backpacking trip. I had some fun and saw a lot, but it didn’t leave me for a real love for the city. But my recent trip there in October 2018 changed all of that. I was much more focused on experiencing the city and letting it guide me rather than sightseeing and saving money. As the characters in the film effortlessly move through some of the most beautiful areas and away from the crowds, I am reminded much more of the Paris I found on that second visit.

Before Midnight

2013

Well another nine year interval passes and the group decides to make a third film in what they affectionately refer to as the least “successful” trilogy ever made. If the first two films are about connection and romance, the third is a much more realistic portrayal of a long term relationship. Céline and Jesse have been together for several years now, and we see that relationships ain’t always easy. They argue. A lot. They hit what feels like a breaking point but ultimately we are left to trust that they will overcome it. This film is harder to watch if you love the characters, but through the right lens it is still uplifting.

I have visited locations from all three films, but this one took some work. It was filmed in western Greece, in the Peloponnese region. I spent a few days in a tiny village on the coast called Stoupa and rode a motorbike to neighboring villages where some the scenes were filmed. The area was deserted in October since the tourism season was essentially over for the year, but that just meant I had it all to myself. It’s a Greece most people don’t see but certainly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Midnight In Paris

2011

Owen Wilson plays an easy-going screenwriter on vacation with his snooty fiancée and her parents in Paris. He’s mesmerized by Paris, wanting to move there and become a novelist, but his fiancée couldn’t be less interested. He takes walks each night and is transported to what he believes was the best era to be alive- Paris in the 1920s. He gallivants through the city with Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Picasso and more. Ultimately he has to decide whether he can stay in this idealistic life and really be happier, or return to the present and choose to be content. Classic Woody Allen flick.

If you are missing the beauty of Paris or daydreaming about someday visiting, this is a great film to get your fix. And if you tend to geek out on Hemingway like me, or any of the revolutionary artists from that era, it’s really cool to see them alive and imagine what they were really like.

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