Review
Before Sunset
- Director
- Richard Linklater
- Year
- 2004
- Rating
- Reviewed by
- José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris
- Review date
- Monday, November 08, 2004
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is at the end of a book tour in Paris. The book, as it happens, chronicles the night he met Celine (Julie Delpy) in Austria, when they decided to meet six months later and see where it led them. Regardless of what happened, Celine hears about Jesse’s Paris presentation and attends. He can’t believe it. And soon they’re walking the city streets, rekindling old times and talking about their lives. Yet Jesse has to take a flight that night, so they only have about an hour to be together… again.
Oh boy, where to begin!? I’m so in love with this pair of movies, with this pair of characters, with writer/director Richard Linklater, with… Paris! It is so refreshing to get to actually see a sequel that was not made for monetary reasons. A sequel that is justified by the story and by the characters. That just doesn’t happen. And it has that liberty and freedom that sets it apart from everything else out there. Some people called the first movie pretentious. With this sequel every doubt is erased. These are works of art. A celebration of love!
That said, don’t think everything’s nice and romantic in Before Sunset. The first movie had that naïve vibe to it that was impossible to resist. This time around Jesse and Celine have grown up, they’ve gone through a lot, they have a more pessimistic way of approaching life. And as I watched these two people remembering those days, I couldn’t stop thinking of how real the emotions felt, how honest the screenplay was, and how much truth there was in both movies.
Once again Jesse and Celine have several conversations that go from the pointless to the important things in life. And it’s impossible to take your eyes away from them! The movie starts as a lighthearted romp where you think these two are falling in love all over again, yet in a different setting, and that nothing more will happen. That would’ve been kind of hu-hum. But as they become more comfortable with each other, as the minutes pass, and as intimacy grows, poignancy takes place. The movie becomes much more than it initially appeared. The awful truth takes center stage, the real feelings start to surface, and they finally open themselves (whether they planned it or not) about how important that chance meeting nine years ago was and the way it affected their lives. And it’s heartbreaking.
I won’t spoil the ending for you, but I do want to say that I absolutely loved it. The perfect ending.
This time around Hawke and Delpy also helped craft the screenplay and the dialogue their characters speak. I can only wonder how personal those stories or thoughts really are regarding the actors’ real lives. But the fact is… the movie is sensational. And both actors do a terrific job in bringing these characters to life. They create real, palpable, interesting, three-dimensional human beings, and that’s something I’m certainly grateful for. Delpy in particular is ravishing.
Kudos to the director as well for crafting a movie this difficult, where everything happens in real time, and coming off so well in every respect.
And Paris… it’s just irresistible!
“Memories are wonderful things, if you don’t have to deal with the past.”
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Other reviews of Before Sunset (2004): Groucho
Comments
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Review
Before Sunset
- Director
- Richard Linklater
- Year
- 2004
- Rating
- Reviewed by
- Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho
- Review date
- Wednesday, January 12, 2005
After their chance meeting in Vienna, as anyone who saw the first film can remember, Jesse and Celine agreed to meet months later in the same spot. It was a hurried decision, and whether they would keep their words was uncertain. We never knew, and now we have an answer. I won’t reveal it of course, but nine years after the original encounter, here they are, meeting again, remembering that day we witnessed, and revealing to each other (and to us) how much it affected their lives. The most important asset of this movie lies in the fact that the encounter is memorable now; before walking into the theater to see Before Sunset, how memorable Before Sunrise was to the us depended on each viewer’s appreciation. To me, it was fine, a good time, and well worth remembering, but not a life-changing event. Watching these people talk about it nine years later however, it is memorable, to me and anyone else, because it is to this people, and they sure as hell transmit it. Heck, I walked out of the movie wanting to see the original again, because I have a chance and they don’t. That’s how powerful it is.
The setting this time is Paris, where Jesse is presenting a novel he wrote about a chance encounter of two people in Vienna, much like his own with Celine. It made me wonder if perhaps Linklater himself wrote the first screenplay as a tribute to his own chance encounter with someone years before. Walking around Paris, with little time before Jesse has to take a plane, these people catch up, and eventually open their hearts. The spirit is mostly the same as in the first film; the long takes are there, the humor is there, but wait, there’s a big difference: This time it’s in real time. If the result doesn’t blow your mind, I have no clue why. In my case, when the movie was suddenly over, I was frozen, I was woe-ridden, I had so many feelings encountered, I, I… I loved it! I still hated one of the characters and loved another, but I loved it! Few movies freeze me like that. It was electrifying.
About the performances, both people are amazing, but Delpy is simply beyond words, especially towards the end, and especially in a car. She also wrote a lot of songs and my guess is she participated more actively than Hawke in the script (I might be wrong, though).
Great, great film. Don’t miss it.
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Other reviews of Before Sunset (2004): Morris
Comments
Groucho wrote at 1/6/2005 2:18:14 AM:
It's Delpy's. She's a neurotic, unstable, undesirable woman. I hated her, really. I loved Hawke's character actually. He's so cool and calm and full of peace. But I loved the movie. And that's what matters, isn't it? =D Morris wrote at 1/6/2005 1:46:55 PM:
Interesting! Groucho wrote at 1/6/2005 2:40:45 PM:
You love her or what? Morris wrote at 1/6/2005 4:36:43 PM:
Not particularly. I'm just saying it's interesting for the sake of it. Like... it's an interesting opinion, and you've got a point and it's totally justifiable. =) Groucho wrote at 1/6/2005 9:30:58 PM:
I said she's undesirable. That's totally wrong, sorry. She's quite desirable, but impossible to be with. Yet I loved the ending. Wow!!!! Mithrandir wrote at 1/6/2005 11:27:27 PM:
I find it funny how you took back the "undesirable" part. lolNew comments are temporarily disabled
Morris wrote at 1/5/2005 8:53:46 PM:
I just saw this movie today, absolutely loved it. But I'm curious... is it Hawke's character that you hate? And why? Just plain curiosity... :)