Overall Rating
  Awesome: 76.14%
Worth A Look: 14.77%
Average: 0%
Pretty Bad: 1.14%
Total Crap: 7.95%
7 reviews, 46 user ratings
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| Before Sunset |
by Jason Whyte
"From then...to now."
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Richard Linklater is an interesting fellow. Here is a filmmaker who tries his best not to pidgeonhole himself into a particular category. You would never guess that the same person who made the indie sensation "Slacker", the cult classic "Dazed and Confused" and the smash kid-friendly comedy "The School of Rock" would also be the man responsible for "Before Sunrise", one of the best romantic films ever made. Linklater must have the same aspirations as someone like Ang Lee or even the late Kubrick: try new subjects every time.Never would I think, however, that a sequel to "Sunrise" would ever be made, but here we are in 2004, and it has been done. "Before Sunset" is a beautiful curiosity, a gift to anyone who saw and admired the 1995 film. I was certainly one of them (discovering it on laserdisc in 1996 after missing its one week theatrical run) and quickly becoming awe-struck at the natural, honest characters and the way they talk. In that first film, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train in Europe. He's heading home to the U.S. the next morning, and Celine is heading back to Paris. Their talk instantly connects them, and they agree to spend the night walking and talking in Vienna. The two connect even further and they agree to meet six months later right where they were last standing.
Jesse has written a fictional book about their night nine years ago and has been doing a book tour in Europe. When his last stop is in Paris, Jesse notices Celine watching him from the back of the book store. He is amazed to see her standing before him again. She is too. Jesse has limited time before his plane departs back to New York, but the two head out of the bookstore to get a cup of coffee. It's obvious to us now that from the ambigous ending of the first film, Jesse and Celine didn't meet back in Vienna. "I was going to, but my mother got sick. I was planning to," Celine says, then asking: "Did you go back?" After some hesitation, he admits that did. "I owed my dad 2000 dollars," Jesse adds.
This follow-up is so beautiful and addictive that we are quickly transported out of the theater and directly aside these two people again. The first film was remarkable in how it held our attention on these two people wandering and talking in a place that was foreign to both of them, and here we see them as a bit more mature than their kid-like personas. And they certainly have a lot to talk about.
The free-flow of dialogue out of the mouths of these two characters is unforgettable, and the performances by Hawke and Delpy are just as sharp as they were in the first. Hawke has such an aloof personality, and I love how he casually pokes fun at Celine when responding to a serious question. Delpy is so beautiful and sincere, but also overwrought with hidden pain about her past. These are the only two major players in the cast, with the beautiful backdrop of Paris as the only other character. Linklater moves all of the action in real time, from the bookstore to the street, to the coffee shop, through a garden path, down onto a river path, onto a boat, off into a chauffer and all the way to Celine's apartment.
Both of Linklater's films touch upon a feeling that I have experienced many times in my life and I'm sure many others have. You meet someone in a place that is not your home, spend time with them despite the clock ticking against you, and that shock and pain that fills you when you part ways. What's even more gut-wrenching is if your paths cross again. What happens at that moment? How do you react? Is the memory still there, or must you act more civil? And what of the past? Should things be any different than they are now?
The finale is something that I can't put into words. It doesn't explain directly, and it is not a conventional way to summarize, but it is a perfect note. It ends on a feeling rather than just wrapping it all up. The story still continues as the credits roll, and it lets us ponder what's next."Before Sunset" lasts only 80 minutes (over 25 minutes shorter than the first), but sets up, delivers and ends without a single false note. This is a remarkable achievement by Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. And whether or not they choose to make another film on these two characters, we wish more romantic films could be within a fraction of these.
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=8925&reviewer=350
originally posted: 07/18/04 17:27:40
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 SXSW Film Festival. For more in the 2004 South By Southwest Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Los Angeles Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Los Angeles Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
02-Jul-2004 (R)
DVD: 09-Nov-2004
UK
N/A
Australia
19-Aug-2004 (M)
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