Before Sunset
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Movie Reviews of Before Sunset
Movie Review: Lovely and Charming and a Little Bit of Sadness
Summary: 5 Stars
Many reviewers seem to have already said what I wanted to say, but still I want to add my words about hits enchanting little film about love and life. You can think of lots of words to describe the merits of "Before Sunset" - charming, sweet, poignant and beautiful - in other words, the film is very realistic in showing how people meet and love each other.
Nine years after "Before Sunrise" in which Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) spent fourteen hours together in Vienna, they meet again in Paris, but Jesse must leave the city for the airport much sooner than before. During the short time, Jesse and Celine talk about what happened to them since the ending of the previous film.
The premise is simple, but the resonant story is honest and becomes deeply emotional as it goes on, much deeper if you fondly remember the original film "Before Sunrise" made in 1994. Its sequel "Before Sunset" reflects the lapse of nine years, and how these two likable characters have grown up. Like "Beofe Sunrise," "Before Sunset" is filled with dialogues, but the new film is more focused and compact, as if reflecting that they (and director Richard Linklater) really became more mature during the nine years.
Probably they did. The conversations exchanged between Jesse and Celine are most thought-provoking when they talk about how coincidences can influence our lives - what if Celine's grandmother didn't die, for instance? Many episodes of their lives since their brief encounter in Vienna are charmingly recounted by two actors who are really in character, but the film is most emotionally touching when they (and we) realise their sweet memories could become very poignant with the "what if" scenarios that might have been.
You don't have to see "Before Sunrise" to appreciate the charms of "Before Sunset," but viewing experiences will surely enhance the feeling that you also have grown up like Jesse and Celine. The sequel reveals us not only what happened to them since then; it also playfully gives us clues as to the night they spent together - in short did they make love?
I can keep writing about the good things about the film, its Paris locations, beautiful but not of postcard beauty (including the bookshop Shakespeare & Company and the brief boat trip on the Seine) and its sparse but lovely music (songs by Nina Simone and Julie Delpy herself) but I was most moved by the film's outlook on life, optimistic without losing sight of sadness.
Movie Review: Love Waits for No One
Summary: 5 Stars
Released in 1995, Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise" became a Generation X romantic masterpiece. It was the story of the one night spent together by chatty, heartbroken American drifter Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and vulnerable but opinionated French girl Celine (Julie Delpy). Walking around Vienna, they talked, making out with their minds, before falling in love.
At the end of the movie, they promise to meet up in Vienna six months later. Instead, the sequel "Before Sunset" opens nine years later in Paris. Due to the death of her grandmother, Celine never made it back to Vienna. The next time she meet's Jesse is in a bookstore, where he is winding up the end of a book tour. He has written a novel based on their time in Vienna, and although at first speechless, soon both have a lot to talk about.
The movie unfolds in real time over 80 minutes. As they leave the bookstore on the left bank of the Seine, the sinking of the sun is an element of time. Letting you know how much time they have left.
Instead of filming the landmarks of Paris of Vienna, director Linklater show us wide shots, in front of or behind the couple. The streetscapes are pretty, and they make the time go faster. Building the suspense of the story.
Celine and Jesse are hungry for news of each other. He feels trapped in his loveless marriage because of having a child. She is tired of been the kind of women who men thank for teaching them how to love other women. Delpy is hypersensitive about the deadline, punctuating her thoughts with "You'll miss your plane."
Neither Delpy nor Hawke has done anything as effective since "Before Sunrise." Hawke has been the occasional success like "Training Day." Delpy's career has crashed and burned. Here, both off camera contributing to writing the script, as well as on screen, they work so well together you wonder why the film took so long to get made.
The subject they talk about most is how in their mid-30s, they realise how precious time is. That regret is wasteful, and passion is always compromised by real life. In an 80-minute long epiphany they remind each other what by not again meeting again in Vienna, they learnt to live without.
But they are talking again. With seductive ease, they navigate the new terrain of each other's heart. Feeling they're rhythmic beat, you hope for them time will stand still.
Movie Review: Simply put: Brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
There was alot of hype leading up to the release of this film, and with good reason. The original movie, "Before Sunrise" has achieved the status of being a cult favorite among movie goers, and many were leary about what would take place in a sequel. So many questions were left unanswered with the first flim: would Jesse and Celine ever meet up six months later in Vienna? Would they be able to move on with their lives after their one incredible evening together? Many people, myself inculded, were somewhat afraid to find out these answers, instead preferring to let our imagination run away with us. But I give major credit to Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who all three cowrote this movie. They know what works, and they knew how to answer all the questions that were important to the fans, and I have to admit that I would not change one thing about this film.
This one is now set in Paris, nine years after the initial meeting in Vienna. Jesse is now on a book tour, a book which is of course about his night with Celine. She meets him in a Paris bookstore, where he is being interviewed, and they embark on a real time one and a half hour catch up session before he must go to the airport and back to America. Their dialogue with one another is as though they never left each other, which in a way is very satisfying to see. The conversation relates to things they have talked about before, venturing into the philosophical issues of life, and the half written, half improvised script is very realistic, and very satisfying.
As much as I want to, I will not spill the secrets of this film, as they must be seen to be fully understood. What "Before Sunset" is is a brilliantly romantic movie about holding on to one's past, trying to keep heading for the future, and wondering what could have been. Everything here is perfect, and this needs to be considered one of the best movies of the year, without question. It is simple, quick and it gets to all the things we have wanted to know about for the last nine years. I also found that this movie had a very good ending, revealing just enough and leaving enough to the imagination to appease all viewers. This truly is a great film. For those fans of "Before Sunrise", this is an absolute must see, and Jesse and Celine should be considered some of the great romantic characters of all time.
Movie Review: Charming, bittersweet, romantic sequel showcases soulmates
Summary: 5 Stars
It's often the "little movies" that hit you the hardest. "Before Sunrise," the first collaboration between Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, and Richard Linkater (now of "School of Rock" fame) was a classic 90's "indie" film. Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) meet by chance and spend a day and a night in Vienna together. After one of the most romantic 24 hours in cinema history, Jesse departs for America, but they plan to meet at the same train platform in 6 months.
"Before Sunset" takes place 9 years later, and Jesse and Celine meet by chance in Paris. Unfortunately (mild spoiler alert, but this is a spoiler that makes "Before Sunset" work), due to circumstances beyond their control that reunion didn't occur. So Celine and Jesse have a few hours to spend together before Jesse has to fly back to his life in the States. Using the same basic technique of filming Jesse and Delpy as they walk and talk as the first movie, "Before Sunset" catches lightning in a bottle once again.
What makes "Before Sunset" so poignant is how well Delpy and Hawke inhabit Celine and Jesse -- these are career-defining roles for both of them. It's important to note that Delpy and Hawke share screenwriting credits on this movie with Linklater. Their conversations unfold so effortlessly, so charmingly, that nobody can doubt that we are watching two soulmates reunite, and quite frankly it's a wonder that Hawke and Delpy didn't become a Hollywood couple, there's so much chemistry between the two.
But Celine and Jesse are nine years older, and there are deep currents at issue in "Before Sunset." That perfect night in Vienna 9 years ago may have been romantic, but it left a lot of scars, too. Celine and Jesse explore the depth of those wounds after their conversations move beyond the awkward polite reunion phase. For two souls whom we have only seen on romantic outings, they have both spent 9 years being pretty unhappy, and that's a shocker.
A fantastically written and wonderfully acted little movie (clocking in at a mere 80 minutes, counting final credits), "Before Sunset" is a perfect bookend to "Before Sunrise." As wonderful as "Before Sunset" is, you absolutely must see "Before Sunrise" first. Thankfully, it ain't a chore -- it's a pure pleasure.
All in all, a must-see for any romantic.
Movie Review: Awesome sequel to Before Sunrise...
Summary: 5 Stars
We found these DVDs and bought Before Sunrise / Before Sunset together as a birthday gift. Before Sunset is the second installment to a rather intelligent relationship of what were two complete strangers. The roles are played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who return after 9 years to share with viewers, chapter two of their romantic encounters.
In 1994, Before Sunrise initiated with both actors reading books on a train ride through Europe. She sits close by the young American and after a few looks of interest, they engage in conversation, candidly sharing ideas, intimate views on life, and past experiences. She decides to stop in Vienna to spend the night getting to know one another. For the next 14 hours, Vienna provides a marvelous setting for their relationship and viewers take part on what is a wonderful tour of this historic city.
Now, Before Sunset brings these two together again, after a 10 year span. They are reunited at a book store, where Hawke, who has published a book about their romantic encounter in Vienna, is giving a lecture on the theme of his book.
They have just a few hours to spend together and this time, the setting is in beautiful Paris. You can sense unresolved issues of love, betrayal, abandonment, grief, guilt... but a certainty that the spark of love ignited 10 years ago has endured the test of time and is now an ardent fire of unrequited love.
The conversations are intelligent, up-dated; their lines are written with great skill and engage us in topics that are foremost in our minds. It is wonderful to be part of the lives of two individuals, now for over 10 years, and hopefully with a third installment in the future, for the movie leaves us again not sure of where these two will take their love relationship.
Jesse [Ethan Hawke] and Celine [Julie Delpy] are simply magnificent. The special features are great for we learned that the actors are allowed to write most of their own lines, their discussions now, as then, are centered around deep subjects we all confront at one point or another, and when Celine plays her guitar for Jesse... that only one song she promises before he returns to New York City... we know that if he leave her again... he is a fool, for their love is simply... magnificent!
Don't miss it!