Before Sunrise

(1995) by Richard Linklater

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Daydream delusion 

Limousine Eyelash 

Oh, baby with your pretty face 

Drop a tear in my wineglass 

Look at those big eyes 

See what you mean to me 

Sweet cakes and milkshakes

I am a delusion angel 

I am a fantasy parade 

I want you to know what I think 

Don’t want you to guess anymore 

You have no idea where I came from 

We have no idea where we’re going 

Lodged in life

Like two branches in a river

Flowing downstream

Caught in the current

I’ll carry you. You’ll carry me

That’s how it could be

Don’t you know me? 

Don’t you know me by now?

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IT ENCOURAGES US TO QUESTION OUR VALUE-SYSTEM

In the era of austerity and unemployment, what has now become important than ever (especially in the creative industries) is how you market yourself.

We’ve shifted our value-system towards instant return. And it’s no surprise that it’s making us unhappy:

“No one really knows anyone. That’s the thing about relationships – people are always saying, ‘I want to know you, I want to know who you are.’ But it is so hard for anyone to even know themselves. Who I am is always changing, so how can anyone else share in that?”

“I see the people that do the real work, and what in a way is really sad is that the people that are often the most giving, hardworking, and capable of making this world better don’t really have the ambition and ego to be a leader—they don’t see any interest in the rewards, they don’t care if their names ever appear in the press, they actually enjoy the process of helping others, they are truly in the moment.”

Celine: I had worked for this old man and once he told me that he had spent his whole life thinking about his career and his work. And he was fifty-two and it suddenly struck him that he had never really given anything of himself. His life was for no one and nothing. He was almost crying saying that.

Jesse: Sometimes I dream about being a good father and a good husband. And sometimes it feels really close. But then other times it seems silly like it would ruin my whole life. And it's not just a fear of commitment or that I'm incapable of caring or loving because... I can. It's just that, if I'm totally honest with myself I think I'd rather die knowing that I was really good at something. That I had excelled in some way than that I'd just been in a nice, caring relationship.

Jesse: You know what drives me crazy? It's all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But, what good is saved time, if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work. You never hear somebody say, "With the time I've saved by using my word processor, I'm gonna go to a Zen monastery and hang out". I mean, you never hear that.

Celine: “I believe if there’s any kind of God it wouldn’t be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it’s almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt.”