Only one of these movies has one of the best, most powerful, most resonant depictions of love and romance of the decade, and it may not be the one you think. As much as I love Jesse and Celine, I've got to give it to Norm and Marge Gunderson. It's in the way he gets up to make her eggs before she goes to work, and in the way she encourages him in his artwork, assuring him that the three-cent stamp is still used. The Before Trilogy would deepen Jesse and Celine's relationship, but between Fargo and Before Sunrise, I've got to give it to Fargo.
Both of these films are perfect. Both of them are near the top of their genres for all-time.
But what film would leave an unfillable hole in the world if it was gone forever? Before Sunrise.
Nick - 6 years ago
I was all about choosing 'Fargo' until Adam decided to attack my future.
"Which one would you show your children?"
Hmmm...the one about murder, betrayal and lies or the one about falling in love?
Low blow Adam.
(Keep up the great show).
Evan Wilcox - 6 years ago
Unquestionably Fargo is the better film. Fargo is great. The Coens are far more technically accomplished filmmakers than Richard Linklater, even now but especially in the mid 90s. Linklater then barely knew what he was doing.
But... to see Before Sunrise, wait 10 years, see Before Sunset, wait 10 years, see Before Midnight... there's nothing like it. They're tremendous and humane and sincere and there are other Coen Bros movies to hold on to.
Vote Sunrise.
Nathan Willard from Oregon - 6 years ago
I just watched Before Sunrise for the first time; the second movie I finally got to, motivated by this Madness.
The single take trolley scene set the hook. Not for the typical reasons, it’s not a particularly technically impressive single take a la Goodfellas. It’s power, and the power of the film, is that Linklater simply frames Hawke and Delpy together and lets us watch their real and unbroken interaction. It’s engrossing.
If we lose Fargo, we always have the TV series. The subsequent stories on par with the original.
Yet I doubt Sunrise will beat Fargo, and like Jesse and Celine, whether we see each other again, we’ll always have the memory.
Hal Sadofsky - 6 years ago
I have to take issue with the values you wish to pass on to your children in your podcast answer to the poser "Which would you rather show to your children, 'Fargo,' or 'Before Sunrise?'"
Admittedly 'Before Sunrise' is warm, human, philosophical, beautiful. But it is about two self-obsessed (though charming) young people. By contrast, 'Fargo' draws with beautiful small stokes one of filmdom's best marriages (the Gundersons, not the Lundegaards!).
Oh geez. Fargo may be some of the best that the Coen Brothers have to offer, but Before Sunrise will forever have my heart. Very few films can make me ache, make me swoon and sorrowful and lonely and loved all at once like Sunrise does. Fargo is great, bit into the woodchipper it must go.
Jessica in Somerville, MA - 6 years ago
I’m too cynical to love Before Sunrise. Fargo is much more indicative of my worldview, and it is funnier and more rewatchable. And... the filmmaking is far more sophisticated, I’m thinking cinematography, music, pacing, tone, acting and it goes on. If you combined the Before trilogy into one, Boyhood-esque time-lapse epic, it may stand a chance against Fargo. But, ya know, I just can’t leave the Midwest behind, though I don’t live there anymore, ya know.
For me this is the first truly excruciating death match of the tournament thus far. Two singular creations from renowned auteurs. But I'm voting for Fargo and here's why:
1) We still have time to enjoy and memorize Before Sunset and Before Midnight before they're inevitably knocked out of their tournaments by Children of Men and The Tree of Life respectively.
2) I voted against The Big Lebowski but feel strongly about the Coen Brothers surviving another week.
3) I'm riding with Dazed and Confused to the death, so Linklater still has a chance.
4) The world needs Feckless William H. Macy now and forever.
Daniel Camacho - 6 years ago
Both films are perfection in my eyes. However, I will always lean more towards Linklater's warm humanity as opposed to the Coens' more nihilistic view of the world. Plus, if we lose Sunrise then we lose Sunset and Midnight as well! There's no way we can allow a collaboration as beautiful and all-encompassing as that of Hawke, Delpy, and Linklater go to waste.
Chad Hill (Monticello, AR) - 6 years ago
Miller's Crossing aside, 90s Coens has always been the parts of their careers I've had the most trouble with. Fargo didn't click with me at all the first time I saw it, and while repeat viewings have drastically improved its standing, I still don't consider it the masterpiece everyone else sees in it.
Before Sunrise, on the other hand, so thoroughly engages the viewer with its wit, wisdom beyond its young protagonists' years, and low-key romance. The true test of its quality: showing it to my now-ex-girlfriend, a non-cinephile accustomed to more traditional romcoms. She swooned over Jesse and Celine's emerging romance, and immediately asked me to put in its two follow-ups.
Look, whether or not it deserves it (it doesn't) we all know Lebowski is gonna progress to at least Final Four, and I can't have two Coens go forward if it means losing Jesse and Celine to the woodchipper.
Neil Mitchell - 6 years ago
Stop making me vote against the Coens! I adore and treasure them, but from the last bracket, much as I love Fargo, LA Confidential is a better film, and here, It'll take a real clash to make me vote against Before Sunrise, I vote for beauty, love and the deceptive simplicity of two strangers talking. It's perfect, it's the only choice.
Mike H. - 6 years ago
In a sense both of these films depict people in way over their heads. One in the context of crime and murder, and the other in the context of love, time, youth and novelty. Thousands of films do a decent job depicting the former..........hell, the entire noir genre is essentially just that. But it's hard to think of a single film that does a better job depicting the latter. The wonder, the adventure, the serendipity, the impermanence of a fling. Linklater pulls of a clever magic trick, much like Jaramusch did with "Night on Earth". He shows us just these two people among billions on earth aimlessly floating through time and space like leaves that happen to get caught in a small vortex of a wind together, and in doing so he shows us the nature of all of our collective existences on this spinning rock.
I'd hate to see either of these films disappear forever, but just like a long-forgotten past fleeting relationship I just flat out can't imagine my cinematic universe without Before Sunrise in it.
John Randal Reaves - 6 years ago
Fargo is the movie, the masterwork, that taught me the power of emphasizing fiction (...based on a true story...), the power of balancing humor and violence, and the fact that a Midwest accent is the best way to pass the time before your eggs are ready on a cold winter day.
Before Sunrise is a strong movie. But, it's power is completely reliant on the relationship between the three movies. Overall, I feel that Sunrise is inferior to Sunset - and maybe even Midnight? - all because we have that same emotional attachment that comes with the territory of extended narrative, what I like to call "The TV Effect." But, I gotta say, Jesse and Celine are only cute on the first view; Sunset and Midnight have stronger narrative cores.
Fargo = must see. Before Sunrise = must see if you want an easy intro into a more Euro-centric approach.
MY HEART. After arguing with a friend about how Big Lebowski isn't as good a movie when you take it out of the canon of film history (is it that good when there are no prior noir films?), I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the next poll. Can I really let the timeless masterpiece of Fargo woodchip the immediate beautiful amber jewel of Before Sunrise? I have to go with my heart and Delpy and Hawke and Linklater. Too much overstylized violence in the 90's anyway. And now that Chungking is gone, who else will champion love?
Ryan Casto, St. Louis - 6 years ago
This Sweet 16 is a solid set. Personally of the whole group, Before Sunrise is by far the nearest and dearest to my heart. I watched it probably 20 times that first year. I memorized every line. There was a point when I believed it was the perfect film. I now see a few slight SLIGHT flaws. Still, one of the joys of my life, so far, as a movie fan, has been growing up with this couple. When I first saw Before Sunrise I was 18 and so I very much related to Jesse and Celine. And when I saw Sunset I liked it but just didn't connect as much.
Then about 3 years ago I rewatched the Trilogy, and I wept for Jesse and Celine while watching Sunset where I mostly smiled and felt cozy and nostalgic while watching Sunrise. I had grown into my late 20s and I empathized with this couple MORE on Sunset now that I was old enough to understand their loss of hopefulness which is on full display in the first installment. I still haven't yet come to the point where I most relate to Midnight, and I both anticipate and dread the inevitable moment when Midnight hits home more than the other 2.
Anywho, I voted Before Sunrise without delay. But Fargo is probably my 2nd or 3rd fave film left. So, its disappointing.
2 Linklater, 2 Coens, 2 Tarantino, 2 Fincher - these filmmakers are GIANTS, and made many of their classics in the 90s. I listed them in order of preference for me.
Ofer Liebergall from Tel Aviv Israel - 6 years ago
Two great Coen Brothers movies are already gone too early.
But I have to vote for the small chance that love is possible in this world, even if just for one night, just for one film (or 3).
David Hoffman - 6 years ago
This was tough - Fargo is very arguably the Coen's masterpiece, and undoubtably one of the films of the decade, but in the end I voted by looking at what's left in the rest of the bracket - Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, Goodfellas, Unforgiven, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction... so much blood, so much crime, so much darkness. I'm voting Before Sunrise because I want to hang on to some love and sweetness!
Kevin Kiley - 6 years ago
Fargo is the pinnacle of Film Blanc
Nithin - 6 years ago
I don't fully know why, but for me it was Sunrise all the way. Something about seeing two kids talking about love, life, and their futures, I can't get enough of it. Although Sunset is probably my favorite, I can't vote against Sunrise...at least yet
Predicting these results with 'Fargo' probably coming out on top, I'll try to make my case for my beloved 'Before Sunrise'. Don't get me wrong: Fargo is an amusing exercise in the chaos of human nature, but I'm not sure what else it has to say, whereass 'Before Sunrise' is the very example of one of the most magical experiences of being human: the moment of getting to know somebody. It's profound and yet light in its tone and come on guys, you really want to trade in the cold snowy weather for a perfect summer day that will stay in your memory as one of the most important experiences of your life? Yeah, I didn't think so.
I love pinball. Linklater for the win!
Only one of these movies has one of the best, most powerful, most resonant depictions of love and romance of the decade, and it may not be the one you think. As much as I love Jesse and Celine, I've got to give it to Norm and Marge Gunderson. It's in the way he gets up to make her eggs before she goes to work, and in the way she encourages him in his artwork, assuring him that the three-cent stamp is still used. The Before Trilogy would deepen Jesse and Celine's relationship, but between Fargo and Before Sunrise, I've got to give it to Fargo.
Both of these films are perfect. Both of them are near the top of their genres for all-time.
But what film would leave an unfillable hole in the world if it was gone forever? Before Sunrise.
I was all about choosing 'Fargo' until Adam decided to attack my future.
"Which one would you show your children?"
Hmmm...the one about murder, betrayal and lies or the one about falling in love?
Low blow Adam.
(Keep up the great show).
Unquestionably Fargo is the better film. Fargo is great. The Coens are far more technically accomplished filmmakers than Richard Linklater, even now but especially in the mid 90s. Linklater then barely knew what he was doing.
But... to see Before Sunrise, wait 10 years, see Before Sunset, wait 10 years, see Before Midnight... there's nothing like it. They're tremendous and humane and sincere and there are other Coen Bros movies to hold on to.
Vote Sunrise.
I just watched Before Sunrise for the first time; the second movie I finally got to, motivated by this Madness.
The single take trolley scene set the hook. Not for the typical reasons, it’s not a particularly technically impressive single take a la Goodfellas. It’s power, and the power of the film, is that Linklater simply frames Hawke and Delpy together and lets us watch their real and unbroken interaction. It’s engrossing.
If we lose Fargo, we always have the TV series. The subsequent stories on par with the original.
Yet I doubt Sunrise will beat Fargo, and like Jesse and Celine, whether we see each other again, we’ll always have the memory.
I have to take issue with the values you wish to pass on to your children in your podcast answer to the poser "Which would you rather show to your children, 'Fargo,' or 'Before Sunrise?'"
Admittedly 'Before Sunrise' is warm, human, philosophical, beautiful. But it is about two self-obsessed (though charming) young people. By contrast, 'Fargo' draws with beautiful small stokes one of filmdom's best marriages (the Gundersons, not the Lundegaards!).
"Prowler needs a jump."
Oh geez. Fargo may be some of the best that the Coen Brothers have to offer, but Before Sunrise will forever have my heart. Very few films can make me ache, make me swoon and sorrowful and lonely and loved all at once like Sunrise does. Fargo is great, bit into the woodchipper it must go.
I’m too cynical to love Before Sunrise. Fargo is much more indicative of my worldview, and it is funnier and more rewatchable. And... the filmmaking is far more sophisticated, I’m thinking cinematography, music, pacing, tone, acting and it goes on. If you combined the Before trilogy into one, Boyhood-esque time-lapse epic, it may stand a chance against Fargo. But, ya know, I just can’t leave the Midwest behind, though I don’t live there anymore, ya know.
For me this is the first truly excruciating death match of the tournament thus far. Two singular creations from renowned auteurs. But I'm voting for Fargo and here's why:
1) We still have time to enjoy and memorize Before Sunset and Before Midnight before they're inevitably knocked out of their tournaments by Children of Men and The Tree of Life respectively.
2) I voted against The Big Lebowski but feel strongly about the Coen Brothers surviving another week.
3) I'm riding with Dazed and Confused to the death, so Linklater still has a chance.
4) The world needs Feckless William H. Macy now and forever.
Both films are perfection in my eyes. However, I will always lean more towards Linklater's warm humanity as opposed to the Coens' more nihilistic view of the world. Plus, if we lose Sunrise then we lose Sunset and Midnight as well! There's no way we can allow a collaboration as beautiful and all-encompassing as that of Hawke, Delpy, and Linklater go to waste.
Miller's Crossing aside, 90s Coens has always been the parts of their careers I've had the most trouble with. Fargo didn't click with me at all the first time I saw it, and while repeat viewings have drastically improved its standing, I still don't consider it the masterpiece everyone else sees in it.
Before Sunrise, on the other hand, so thoroughly engages the viewer with its wit, wisdom beyond its young protagonists' years, and low-key romance. The true test of its quality: showing it to my now-ex-girlfriend, a non-cinephile accustomed to more traditional romcoms. She swooned over Jesse and Celine's emerging romance, and immediately asked me to put in its two follow-ups.
Look, whether or not it deserves it (it doesn't) we all know Lebowski is gonna progress to at least Final Four, and I can't have two Coens go forward if it means losing Jesse and Celine to the woodchipper.
Stop making me vote against the Coens! I adore and treasure them, but from the last bracket, much as I love Fargo, LA Confidential is a better film, and here, It'll take a real clash to make me vote against Before Sunrise, I vote for beauty, love and the deceptive simplicity of two strangers talking. It's perfect, it's the only choice.
In a sense both of these films depict people in way over their heads. One in the context of crime and murder, and the other in the context of love, time, youth and novelty. Thousands of films do a decent job depicting the former..........hell, the entire noir genre is essentially just that. But it's hard to think of a single film that does a better job depicting the latter. The wonder, the adventure, the serendipity, the impermanence of a fling. Linklater pulls of a clever magic trick, much like Jaramusch did with "Night on Earth". He shows us just these two people among billions on earth aimlessly floating through time and space like leaves that happen to get caught in a small vortex of a wind together, and in doing so he shows us the nature of all of our collective existences on this spinning rock.
I'd hate to see either of these films disappear forever, but just like a long-forgotten past fleeting relationship I just flat out can't imagine my cinematic universe without Before Sunrise in it.
Fargo is the movie, the masterwork, that taught me the power of emphasizing fiction (...based on a true story...), the power of balancing humor and violence, and the fact that a Midwest accent is the best way to pass the time before your eggs are ready on a cold winter day.
Before Sunrise is a strong movie. But, it's power is completely reliant on the relationship between the three movies. Overall, I feel that Sunrise is inferior to Sunset - and maybe even Midnight? - all because we have that same emotional attachment that comes with the territory of extended narrative, what I like to call "The TV Effect." But, I gotta say, Jesse and Celine are only cute on the first view; Sunset and Midnight have stronger narrative cores.
Fargo = must see. Before Sunrise = must see if you want an easy intro into a more Euro-centric approach.
MY HEART. After arguing with a friend about how Big Lebowski isn't as good a movie when you take it out of the canon of film history (is it that good when there are no prior noir films?), I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the next poll. Can I really let the timeless masterpiece of Fargo woodchip the immediate beautiful amber jewel of Before Sunrise? I have to go with my heart and Delpy and Hawke and Linklater. Too much overstylized violence in the 90's anyway. And now that Chungking is gone, who else will champion love?
This Sweet 16 is a solid set. Personally of the whole group, Before Sunrise is by far the nearest and dearest to my heart. I watched it probably 20 times that first year. I memorized every line. There was a point when I believed it was the perfect film. I now see a few slight SLIGHT flaws. Still, one of the joys of my life, so far, as a movie fan, has been growing up with this couple. When I first saw Before Sunrise I was 18 and so I very much related to Jesse and Celine. And when I saw Sunset I liked it but just didn't connect as much.
Then about 3 years ago I rewatched the Trilogy, and I wept for Jesse and Celine while watching Sunset where I mostly smiled and felt cozy and nostalgic while watching Sunrise. I had grown into my late 20s and I empathized with this couple MORE on Sunset now that I was old enough to understand their loss of hopefulness which is on full display in the first installment. I still haven't yet come to the point where I most relate to Midnight, and I both anticipate and dread the inevitable moment when Midnight hits home more than the other 2.
Anywho, I voted Before Sunrise without delay. But Fargo is probably my 2nd or 3rd fave film left. So, its disappointing.
2 Linklater, 2 Coens, 2 Tarantino, 2 Fincher - these filmmakers are GIANTS, and made many of their classics in the 90s. I listed them in order of preference for me.
Two great Coen Brothers movies are already gone too early.
But I have to vote for the small chance that love is possible in this world, even if just for one night, just for one film (or 3).
This was tough - Fargo is very arguably the Coen's masterpiece, and undoubtably one of the films of the decade, but in the end I voted by looking at what's left in the rest of the bracket - Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, Goodfellas, Unforgiven, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction... so much blood, so much crime, so much darkness. I'm voting Before Sunrise because I want to hang on to some love and sweetness!
Fargo is the pinnacle of Film Blanc
I don't fully know why, but for me it was Sunrise all the way. Something about seeing two kids talking about love, life, and their futures, I can't get enough of it. Although Sunset is probably my favorite, I can't vote against Sunrise...at least yet
Predicting these results with 'Fargo' probably coming out on top, I'll try to make my case for my beloved 'Before Sunrise'. Don't get me wrong: Fargo is an amusing exercise in the chaos of human nature, but I'm not sure what else it has to say, whereass 'Before Sunrise' is the very example of one of the most magical experiences of being human: the moment of getting to know somebody. It's profound and yet light in its tone and come on guys, you really want to trade in the cold snowy weather for a perfect summer day that will stay in your memory as one of the most important experiences of your life? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Come on, guys. Do the right thing and vote for Before Sunrise. Frances McDormand just won a second Oscar. She'll be okay if Fargo loses this round.