“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. Continue reading “Side by Side: Clerks. and Before Sunrise”