Before Sunset

Very few films can match up to the original first movies. 'Before Sunset' is one such. This time Linklater has co-written the screenplay with Hawke and Delpy. Jesse and Celine reunite after nine years. Things haven't turned out the way they had expected but here's a chance. 'Before Sunset' follows pretty much the same style as 'Before Sunrise'. This one too is very much a conversational piece. Here the score is used to a minimal. During the end we hear some songs including Julie Delpy's beautiful 'My Waltz'. The cinematography consists of more long shots than in the first movie. The film has a very mature feel to it. Of course Jesse and Celine are a lot more mature today and less idealistic than they were nine years ago. Linklater beautifully captures the love between these two characters as he walks us through the streets of Paris. Here too the dialogues are just as magical as in the first movie except that this time there's a melancholy about the things that could have been, the years that they could have been together. Both Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are terrific as ever and they deserve additional praise for the writing and Ms. Delpy for her singing. Overall, 'Before Sunset' has everything that made 'Before Sunrise' a phenomenal movie experience.

Before Sunset (2004)

**** (out of 4)

Nine years after the events in BEFORE SUNRISE, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) returns to Paris to do a Q&A for his book, which just happens to talk about that night in Vienna. Celine (Julie Delpy) winds up coming to the event and afterwards they've got a little over a hour to catch up on what's been going on in their lives. BEFORE SUNSET is clearly an improvement over the already very good first film but what makes this one here even more special is that it captures the magic of the first picture while at the same time taking a look at the darker issues in their lives. As with the first film, it's really amazing how director Richard Linklater managed to make this feel like a documentary that you're watching and not once do you see Hawke and Delpy as actors but instead you see them as real people that are simply being filmed by an invisible camera. The film manages to really make you believe that the story is picking up nine years after the previous film and I must say that the explanation for the ending of the first movie is extremely well handled. I'm not going to spoil what happened six months later but it's perfectly handled here. Even the first appearance of Celine is extremely beautiful and perfectly done. I really liked the dialogue here but I also like the fact that it once again comes across so real. I say this because I viewed this at the same age of the characters and I thought their feelings on growing older are so true. Hearing Hawke talk about his son and relationships is just something one can connect with and like the previous film the situations make you feel as if you could be the one doing the talking or at least you know someone like these characters. Once again both Hawke and Delpy are terrific together and really fit back well in their characters. There are more emotional or dramatic moments here and both handle them well. Linklater, who wrote the script with the two stars, keeps the film moving at a great pace and really manages to make one fall for the situation that these two are in.

Before Sunset is one of those movies, you either love, or you hate.

Personally, I loved it.

Now, I recommend watching "Before Sunrise" first, however it isn't necessary. Before Sunset does a good job of reviewing what had happened, therefore if you decide to watch it Before watching "Sunrise" you have nothing to worry about.

Some scenes are extremely well done. The characters are picture perfect, and the movie itself, is breathtaking. The aura of the movie is so spectacular, that it will inspire young directors out there, to pick up their video cameras are start filming.

An 80 minute movie, about two lovable characters and what they have to say, may sound boring. But the way it's done in Before Sunset, will sweep this impression right off your feet.

Julie and Ethan play two of the most honest and true characters I have ever seen, they are known as Jesse and Celine. And while much of the credit must go to the characters themselves, you musn't forget the actor and actress who played them.

Julie is perfect as Celine. The young french actress is so natural in front of the camera. Definitely, has potential.

Ethan is also very very honest, he seems so comfortable character that that you forget your watching a movie, and not a home-made video.

Both play with such honest expression, and such trueness, that they are so natural, Before Sunset becomes no longer a movie. It feels as if you are eavesdropping on two extremely developed people. It's such an intimate environment, that you never want to leave.

Before Sunset... 9.901/10*****

"Before Sunrise" was one of the most beautiful independent love stories of the 90's. Part of its appeal came from the open ending. We didn't know how the lives of these two young people would continue and what would become of them. The whole movie was like a snapshot that left the rest to our imagination. A sequel to such a story seemed to be unnecessary, but apparently director Richard Linklater himself couldn't stop thinking about these two intriguing characters and had to envision their lives after this one fateful day in Vienna.

Here it is now, the most unlikely sequel I have ever seen, "Before Sunset" - made not for money but for pure artistic purpose only. Much of the magic of part one could have been destroyed, but somehow Linklater and his two main actors managed to pull it off. "Before Sunset" takes place nine years after Jesse and Celine first met and as soon as the movie starts you feel like you meet old friends you haven't seen in a long time. You know these people and immediately feel at home with them. I was afraid that "Before Sunset" might give answers to questions that shouldn't be answered in the first place. If "Before Sunrise" was a dream that two young people had, then this movie could only be the rude awakening, the confrontation with reality. And somehow it is just that. It's a bit disillusioning to hear that all did not turn out as well as one might have imagined. We learn that Jesse and Celine are not particularly happy in their lives and that they are not really the romantic persons they used to be nine years ago. The soothing thing to see, however, is that they are still here. They both have passed their 30th birthday, they have jobs and their future is more or less decided, but they're still longing for passion in their lives and as soon as they meet each other, it's there again. They might have given up a lot of their dreams and beliefs but one thing remains true: their feelings for each other. While they're talking it's like they turn back time and become the young, hopeful people they once were again. I'm getting a bit carried away, but that's the beauty of these two movies, "Sunrise" and "Sunset". The story sucks you in and you're not able to stop thinking about it for a long while.

Another thing "Before Sunset" did, it made me reflect on my own life. How have I changed in the past nine years? What has become of my dreams? Obviously, I have gotten more cynical, because at times I was irritated by Celine's talk about environmental problems and her emotional outbursts. It took me way longer than last time to "bond" with her character this time around.

Anyway, the performances by Hawke and Delpy are wonderful once again. Their acting is as natural as can be, and thinking of Hawke's recent divorce in real life you wonder how much of his character in the movie is based on his own personal experiences.

Unfortunately, the movie is over way too soon. After about an hour you have already arrived at the final scene - a scene that is just amazing. It makes you hope that somehow everything will work out for Jesse and Celine and that maybe they will stay together this time. As part one, "Before Sunset" doesn't have a definite ending, though.

It's sure nice to see that apparently Linklater cares about Jesse and Celine as much as I do and made such a good sequel. He could probably even make a third part. "Before Sunset" has convinced me that it could work.

This is simply one of the best movies I've seen, with very few qualifications. Maybe I should say that this is one of the best "simple" movies I've seen. Perhaps it is a bit like cooking, use fresh and quality ingredients and you can make something great without a lot of unnecessary stuff. Unfortunately, Hollywood just doesn't seem to have the ambition to make these type of movies anymore.

In any event, this is one of the few sequels that matches the intensity and integrity of the original. First, it has many simple, yet stylish and honest shots. Perhaps the Scorcese shot is used too much (i.e. following the actors on a long walk without cutting a la Goodfellas kitchen scene), but I don't think so because it makes sense in the context of the movie. Second, many of the shots have interesting emotive effect. For instance, towards the end of the movie, after these "lovers" are fighting the clock (because Ethan Hawke's character needs to catch a flight) and are cruising down the river, they are so engrossed in their conversation and the fact that they are trying to get so much out of the last few minutes they don't notice their ride is coming to an end. However, we the viewer can see what the characters either don't see or don't want to see, that the boat is crossing over the river to its destination and the departure no one wants to deal with. The viewer is given a wonderful sense of dread as the bank approaches in the background, because we know what is going to happen when the ride ends, and like the characters, we don't want it to end either. Even if the film borrows heavily from other great movies (e.g. My Dinner with Andre) it is independent of those influences.

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke were great per usual. Making the dialogue ring true is difficult, but they pull it off. As before, they completely capture the nature of the intimate and friendly conversational style of friends or lovers that is normally edited out of most movies. When people talk, things are not always sequential or rationale, and unlike most movies this movie doesn't try and correct that. Not for a moment does the audience find themselves thinking that this is some sort of charade and no one would ever talk like that. The dialogue is intelligent and insightful, but that is because the characters are intelligent and have a knack for being brutally honest with their thoughts and feelings.

This is movie excellence, and I'm glad some film makers are still trying to make art. Despite the romantic themes this isn't a date flick, so be prepare to deal with the difficult and often unresolved issues of love and relationships that arise.