“Side by Side” is a new series I hope to continue in addition to my “Rapid Response” reviews. But rather than a quick reaction to a single film, these pieces intend to take two seemingly different films, watched in succession, and find their common ground.
“I’m not even supposed to be here today!” That’s Dante’s final plea in “Clerks.” but it’s also the reason Jesse and Celine fell in love in “Before Sunrise.”
Somehow that accidental situation feels more real as a result, but still it’s a wonderful fantasy, one that shows if only things had gone as they were supposed to, it might’ve never been.
“Clerks.” and “Before Sunrise” are two very different films, one a cult comedy and the other a cult romance, and yet each is a mid-90’s indie darling that captures a gritty, down to Earth human mentality with intellectual, thought provoking, ordinary and innovative dialogue that, in all actuality, could not be more of a beautiful auteur fantasy.
Both films wear their naturalism on their sleeves. For “Clerks,” the grimy black & white and amateurish acting scream DIY instead of Hollywood, regardless of how Kevin Smith first wanted it to look. And “Before Sunrise” defiantly resists a plot; the love story is the reason they’re together, but the conversation as they do nothing but walk around and play pinball in dingy German bars is why we stay.
Watching the two in succession shows how even in “naturalism” there is a distinct difference in style. It would be somewhat hypocritical to think “Clerks” is the more vulgar or morbid film given how often Celine and Jesse discuss their first crushes, the certainty of death and their desperate urge to have sex in the park (twice! if you’ve seen the second one). Similarly, it would be naïve to call “Sunrise” the more inherently intelligent, as Smith models “Clerks.” loosely off “The Divine Comedy,” he deconstructs scenes and comedic expectations with ease and his character Randal plays like some Shakespearean jester appearing and interjecting wisdom and mischief into Dante’s life.
Where they are not the same however is in their structure. “Clerks.” just might be a master class in modern screenwriting. Kevin Smith will establish a shot or a scenario, in which an element from the start of the sequence, like Randal reading a newspaper behind the counter, will inevitably be the focal point of the entire gag. He does this with such precision that the audience soon begins to pick up on it, and Smith plays with our expectations as to what the final gag will be. Consider the “guidance counselor” examining each an every egg looking for “the perfect dozen.” The end punch line is not the man, but the woman who buys a pack of cigarettes and surprises everyone and says, “That’s why I masturbate caged animals for artificial insemination.”
The problem with his however stems from the fact that “Clerks,” although taking place over the course of one day, is essentially a compilation of set pieces. Gags like the shoe polish bit carry through the course of the movie, but individual scenes stand alone and seem to paint a broader picture of Dante’s life and his community, not just one crummy day.
“Before Sunrise” couldn’t be different. It’s set up a bit more elegantly such that its own set pieces, including run-ins with amateur German actors, a homeless poet and a palm reader, feel like chance encounters. And yet despite its simplicity, Richard Linklater seems to telegraph that “Before Sunrise” is just an experimental film, a movie about two people just walking and talking and doing nothing else.
When you start thinking about “Clerks” and “Before Sunrise” in the context that they are constructs, not slices of life, in which you’d never actually have this disastrous or miraculous of a day, you begin to appreciate the directors’ visions a whole lot more, and you also begin to recognize the potential for what a small scale indie can do.
Yes, in their lo-fi way, each of these is an actors’ movie, but they’d have hardly the legacy (and the subsequent sequels) behind them were it not for their directors. Smith and Linklater each have made movies that feel so intimate, and yet we realize how little we know about all of them. Smith briefly introduces us to Jay and Silent Bob, but they get so little screen time that you could conceive of following them into their own movie (and in fact, Smith has). We seem to learn so much about Jesse and Celine, but it becomes apparent before long that we really know nothing about them beyond what they know. This is so true that when the couple return again in “Before Sunset,” they’re discussions about politics, family and careers seems almost completely foreign and awkward.
Much has been made about the narrative behind the making of “Clerks.” It was a movie that wasn’t even supposed to exist given its budget and approach. “Before Sunrise” would’ve never been made by a major studio either. And yet here they are, both perfect accidents.
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