Before SunsetThere are some nights which you never forget, experiences which stay with you for the rest of your life, loves that change you. Nine years prior, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) met on a train bound for Vienna. They enjoyed one another's company, flirted a bit, then Jesse suggested they walk around the city all night to get to know one another more...long story short, they fell deeply in love. However, out of fear of trying to prolong the experience, assuming it would lead to half-hearted calls and so forth, they opted to meet six months later--Before Sunset picks up nine years after that fateful night.
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Before Sunset is a sequel; it's predecessor, Before Sunset, was set nine years in the past--also filmed nine years prior--and was a heartfelt romance, a tale of young love, deep conversations, and making that crucial connection to someone special. Audiences were left with some ambiguity, which Before Sunset cleverly exploits in tongue-in-cheek fashion, about whether Jesse and Celine met again in six months--and even whether they had sex in the park in Vienna--a nod to fans of the original, respecting their devotion to seeing how their favorite international-romance couple have grown in that time. In that span of time, Jesse has written a fictional account of that night--appropriately titled, "That Night"--which has served both as a kind of way for him to cope with wishing she were a part of his life (they did not meet in Vienna in six months). On his last stop in Paris at the end of his European book tour, Celine surprises him by showing up, and they attempt to reconnect. After nine years, they find they know so little about what has happened to one another, and their re-introductory conversation begins somewhat stilted and guarded, as they probe to try to see if they still feel the same for one another, or how their life has changed...if they are still hurt having been without one another for what must seem like an eternity. Celine has gone on to become an environmental activist working for international causes, and asserts the significance of her work onto Jesse, who appears both impressed and a bit scared by her fervor. She has found a calling where she can devote her passion, but the audience is left wondering whether this passion is a kind of escape from the pain of not seeing Jesse again, just as his writing pursuits have been.
Before Sunset has some qualities of a "chronologue", more than the travelogue-like quality of its predecessor. Set nine years later with the same actors reprising their roles, it's as if we've been transported to a different time and place from Before Sunrise...because we have. In a way, this is almost like a kind of dramatic documentary, similar to the Up Series, and Richard Linklater's own Boyhood. Watching Celine and Jesse grow older and change is more real for watching Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy grow older and change--and they have changed. The screenplay credits Linklater, as well as Hawke and Delpy, and it is practically felt in the authenticity of their dialogue and performances that they are deeply involved in the production of these perennial lovers. One of the biggest tonal shifts between Before Sunset and Before Sunrise is how the sequel feels wiser, as well as more cynical and guarded about love and romance, especially for Celine, who if I had to say is arguably more central in this film than Jesse (more explanation in the next article). Celine has changed less superficially than Jesse, but on a deeper level. After she was forced to miss her meetup with Jesse because she needed to attend her grandmother's funeral in Budapest, we can piece together that she began to shut out the idea of love and romance, that she had already been apprehensive about magic and superstition, god and other mysticism which Jesse feels must exist in some way--though he doesn't fight her on this. Celine has tried to broaden her horizons--travelling to Poland and the United States as a student--and has tried to get involved with other lovers, only to find that she lacks that sense of romance, of true love, which she felt for Jesse. Jesse's return is a terrifying blessing, one which fills her with dread, because he has married and has a kid--even though he claims he is unhappily married. Her responses are occasionally defensive, and when Jesse says something which tests her, you can really see it in her face, can tell that she is willingly submitting herself to this torture, believing that it's just going to hurt her again to relive these feelings...but sometimes, we can't help that willingness to walk into the fire, and let ourselves become consumed by that passion, even if we try to cautiously tip-toe in, because we don't know if the fire will like us back. This isn't to say that Jesse is a mute participant, but rather his time constraint to catch a plane is the great threat looming over their precious time. But for Jesse, he keeps putting off and putting off that commitment to catch that plane, and it's not hard to see why. Maybe it is some cosmic force, maybe it's fate, but after pouring his heart out onto the page about the one that got away, here she is, in the city of amour, and he's willing to let himself be tempted into the life he's always wanted. In many ways, Before Sunset is all about that sense of foreplay, rekindling that spark when the lovers have to try to convince themselves they won't get crushed again like they did before. It's a perfect kind of romance for the young lovers who have become more responsible adults...but not too responsible, thankfully.
Recommended for: Fans of romances, where the lovers have another shot at happiness, and like its predecessor, is filled with scenes from a beautiful European city and rich, deep dialogue between two very realized characters.
Before Sunset has some qualities of a "chronologue", more than the travelogue-like quality of its predecessor. Set nine years later with the same actors reprising their roles, it's as if we've been transported to a different time and place from Before Sunrise...because we have. In a way, this is almost like a kind of dramatic documentary, similar to the Up Series, and Richard Linklater's own Boyhood. Watching Celine and Jesse grow older and change is more real for watching Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy grow older and change--and they have changed. The screenplay credits Linklater, as well as Hawke and Delpy, and it is practically felt in the authenticity of their dialogue and performances that they are deeply involved in the production of these perennial lovers. One of the biggest tonal shifts between Before Sunset and Before Sunrise is how the sequel feels wiser, as well as more cynical and guarded about love and romance, especially for Celine, who if I had to say is arguably more central in this film than Jesse (more explanation in the next article). Celine has changed less superficially than Jesse, but on a deeper level. After she was forced to miss her meetup with Jesse because she needed to attend her grandmother's funeral in Budapest, we can piece together that she began to shut out the idea of love and romance, that she had already been apprehensive about magic and superstition, god and other mysticism which Jesse feels must exist in some way--though he doesn't fight her on this. Celine has tried to broaden her horizons--travelling to Poland and the United States as a student--and has tried to get involved with other lovers, only to find that she lacks that sense of romance, of true love, which she felt for Jesse. Jesse's return is a terrifying blessing, one which fills her with dread, because he has married and has a kid--even though he claims he is unhappily married. Her responses are occasionally defensive, and when Jesse says something which tests her, you can really see it in her face, can tell that she is willingly submitting herself to this torture, believing that it's just going to hurt her again to relive these feelings...but sometimes, we can't help that willingness to walk into the fire, and let ourselves become consumed by that passion, even if we try to cautiously tip-toe in, because we don't know if the fire will like us back. This isn't to say that Jesse is a mute participant, but rather his time constraint to catch a plane is the great threat looming over their precious time. But for Jesse, he keeps putting off and putting off that commitment to catch that plane, and it's not hard to see why. Maybe it is some cosmic force, maybe it's fate, but after pouring his heart out onto the page about the one that got away, here she is, in the city of amour, and he's willing to let himself be tempted into the life he's always wanted. In many ways, Before Sunset is all about that sense of foreplay, rekindling that spark when the lovers have to try to convince themselves they won't get crushed again like they did before. It's a perfect kind of romance for the young lovers who have become more responsible adults...but not too responsible, thankfully.
Recommended for: Fans of romances, where the lovers have another shot at happiness, and like its predecessor, is filled with scenes from a beautiful European city and rich, deep dialogue between two very realized characters.