On sweet beginnings and second chances

What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?

I was in a cab on my home yesterday, reading through my Twitter feeds, when I got wind of the wonderful, wonderful news that Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, and Richard Linklater have again come together to make another installment to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Apparently it will be called Before Midnight and will most likely be released on 2013. And whereas the two first movies were set in Vienna and France respectively, the third will be set in Greece. Beautiful, beautiful Greece. My heart literally skipped a beat and if it could only do a somersault, it definitely would have done so. 

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I was still in fourth grade when the first movie came out so I wasn't aware of its existence then yet. When the sequel came nine years later, I was already in college and yes, a total movie junkie. I read about how excited people were for this sequel so naturally I just had to see what the fuss was all about. Compelling, intelligent, and undeniably romantic, from then on Before Sunrise and Before Sunset became two of my favorite movies of all time, second only to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. "My heart aches just thinking of how beautiful this movie is." - says a direct quote from a review I wrote about Before Sunrise when I was 22. 

Jesse: Alright, I have an admittedly insane idea, but if I don't ask you this it's just, uh, you know, it's gonna haunt me the rest of my life

Celine: What?

Jesse: Um... I want to keep talking to you, y'know. I have no idea what your situation is, but, uh, but I feel like we have some kind of, uh, connection. Right? Celine: Yeah, me too.

Jesse: Yeah, right, well, great. So listen, so here's the deal. This is what we should do. You should get off the train with me here in Vienna, and come check out the capital.

Celine: What?

Jesse: Come on. It'll be fun. Come on.

Celine: What would we do?

Jesse: Umm, I don't know. All I know is I have to catch an Austrian Airlines flight tomorrow morning at 9:30 and I don't really have enough money for a hotel, so I was just going to walk around, and it would be a lot more fun if you came with me. And if I turn out to be some kind of psycho, you know, you just get on the next train. Alright, alright. Think of it like this: jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you're married. Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have, y'know. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those guys you've met in your life and what might have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right? Well, I'm one of those guys. That's me y'know, so think of this as time travel, from then, to now, to find out what you're missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favor to both you and your future husband to find out that you're not missing out on anything. I'm just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and, uh, you made the right choice, and you're really happy.

Celine: Let me get my bag. 

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Jesse: In the months leading up to my wedding, I was thinking about you all the time. I mean, even on my way there; I'm in the car, a buddy of mine is driving me downtown and I'm staring out the window, and I think I see you, not far from the church, right? Folding up an umbrella and walking into a deli on the corner of 13th and Broadway. And I thought I was going crazy, but now I think it probably was you.
Celine: I lived on 11th and Broadway.
Jesse: You see? 

Watching Jesse and Celine meet by chance (on a train, no less) and meet again on another country nine years later after Jesse wrote a book (a book!) to try and find her again, seeing them talk about different things and witnessing how easy it is for them to communicate to each other made me think of destiny. Of chemistry. Of beautiful serendipity. I want that, you know?

"Isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?" I've been single for quite a while now so to tell the truth I'm scared that I might have forgotten already how it feels like to have a special person by my side. The search for that someone can be a little tiring, really. I know it is not something I should be stressed about as it will come when the time is right and all that jazz but it's just that... it gets lonely sometimes, you know? But who knows, maybe he'll come tomorrow. Or maybe I've already met him but we just don't know it yet. Or maybe I am just about to meet him. Or maybe, maybe we've already had a chance at love before and we blew it, and now he's (literally) miles and oceans away from me. Sigh.

Anyway. If you have seen these movies and think they're the bee's knees, high-five. If you tried to watch them but had to stop because you got bored - Why are they just talking? When will the real action start? Really?- then please watch any of Michael Bay's Transformers movies instead. But if you haven't seen any of these movies yet, then WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? I mean, watching them might need a little suspension of disbelief, but if movies are done as tastefully and beautifully as these, then I am willing to believe anything. Make sure to choose the best time to watch them because they're like beautiful books meant to be enjoyed and read over and over again. Timeless and precious, yes. So, so precious.