I see Before Sunrise as a take on the prototype of My Dinner with Andre, a film consisting of almost exclusively nothing but dialogue between only two people. Here an American (Ethan Hawke) riding the train meets a French woman (Julie Delpy), and the two decide to get off of the train and spend his last European night in Vienna. The two inevitably fall in love as they wander the streets and talk and talk and talk as they decide how they are to face the dilemma of their impending disjunction. I found Before Sunrise to be an enhancement of this format with nicely textured dialogue enriched by the background locations (MDWA had the dialogue but the visuals were just that of two men at a dinner table). Delpy and the erratic are pleasant in the leads and have the chemistry needed in order to sustain this kind of project. Kudos to director Linklater, the type of director who could make this kind of film work.
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