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Before Sunset
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Despite the best efforts of the Hollywood studios to convince us otherwise, Richard Linklater's quiet 1995 romance Before Sunrise reminded us that two characters engaged in enthusiastic, carpe diem conversation could still command the attention of the modern-day cinemagoer. As if to confirm his championing of dialogue and character over expensive effects and soulless CGI, Linklater has returned to the setting and style of the first film with its sequel, Before Sunset - a film full of fireworks, but with nary an explosion in sight.'Before Sunrise' introduced viewers to Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), two young travelers who meet on a Vienna-bound train. He was an American exploring Europe. She was a graduate student returning to Paris following a holiday break. When their initial conversation fuelled a sexy chemistry, Jesse persuaded Celine to exit the train and wander the streets of Vienna all night, before his flight to the States arrived at dawn. That was it for plot, but Linklater's dialogue sparked and pulsated like a disco lighting rig. We wanted these two appealing soul-searchers to get together, and there was an inherent tension in the fact that Jesse was mere hours away from leaving the country. After a night of dazzling talk, the couple promised to meet again in six months. Then both potential soul mates were whisked away to their own separate worlds (only to reunite briefly in a scene from 'Waking Life,' Linklater's dreamy, animated thought-piece from 2001). The sequel picks up nine years later. One of the many pleasures of Linklater's approach is his gradual disclosure of details. Jesse is seen promoting a novel in Paris. Is he married? Did he ever return to France six months following his one-night relationship with Celine? The director eventually fills in these voids, but meanwhile, he relies on dialogue to create suspense and curiosity. Even the book-signing session attended by Hawke's bestselling author is fleshed out and not just a contrived setup. 'We see the world through our own tiny keyhole,' Jesse explains, fielding questions from the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore hosting his appearance. It becomes clear that his novel concerns the night he spent with Celine so long ago. 'The book ends on a ambiguous note,' says a French journalist. 'Do they get together again?' Jesse responds that the outcome depends on whether 'you're a romantic or a cynic.' In the nine years that have passed since 'Before Sunrise, which has Jesse become? The answer lies with the presence that quickly distracts him from outside the bookstore's window. It's Celine, whom the author quickly greets with an awkward kiss and some nervous laughter. Now residing in Paris, she has seen his name on the bookstore calendar. Meanwhile, she admits to having read the novel. 'It was vaguely familiar,' she says of the subject matter, smirking sarcastically. And from there, the two gabbers are suddenly picking up where they left off in the first film, haunting cafes and ferry boats as they catch up on a decade's worth of triumphs, disappointments, and questions. Hawke is giddy and optimistic in his role, a positive man who feels that the world has improved since their last visit together. Delpy, having grown into an environmental activist, is more cynical. Meanwhile, there's poignancy in the older, wiser appearances of both stars. Hawke appears dapper and settled in. Delpy is more slim and lanky than before. When Jesse comments that Celine has lost weight, she shoots back, 'Did you think I was a fatty before? A fat French girl?' They examine world violence, religion, and self-fulfillment. Sex and marriage are touched on. Through it all, Linklater reminds us of the wonder and mystery inherent in simple human interaction. All the big issues are here, wrapped in a deceptively simple package, but the film remains mesmerizing all the way to the last frame. Without spoiling the final outcome, I'll borrow a comment voiced by another viewer while leaving the theatre: 'It surprises me that an American would direct that movie.' Let's hope Richard Linklater keeps on surprising us.
Reviewed by KJ Doughton
Reader comments about Before Sunset
paul (paulhjazz@yahoo.co.uk) writes:
This is a great movie - and a good example of what can be achieved with good acting and writing. It reminded me of Eric Rohmer which can't be bad can it? Ethan and Julie are superb and although the piece is probably almost totally scripted it seemed really fresh and utterly believable - the chemistry and their reactions to each other appeared spontaneous and very real. It made me laugh, it made me think, it made me euphoric, it made me sad, and all that without a trace of Spielbergian sentimentalism nor an emotionally overblown soundtrack. This kind of wit and intelligence is really welcome, not to mention the odd subversive jibe at USA! Very impressive indeed. What do you think Carrie?
Carrie (Email address withheld) writes:
:) I haven't seen this film, actually but have read some very good reviews. I will certainly try to give it a viewing. Thanks, interesting reading.
Dean Agius (deanagius@hotmail.com) writes:
In 1995’s sublime BEFORE SUNRISE, young American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and French student Celine (Julie Delpy) meet on a train and slip into an intensely deep conversation. Over the next fourteen hours they form a connection that is immediate, profound and sexually consummated. The film ended tantalisingly, with the new lovers, still ignorant of each other’s last names, agreeing to meet in Vienna six months later. Fans of the sleeper hit were left to conjecture whether the two would be true to their words. The answer comes in BEFORE SUNSET, a wonderfully realistic romance that reunites director Richard Linklater with original stars Hawke and Delpy.
It’s nine years later and Jessie is in Paris for a reading of his book The Time - a barely fictionalised account of his night with Celine. As the reading comes to an end, he turns to see Celine stood in the wings listening. With only an hour before he is to catch his plane back to the States, the pair agree to go for a walk and catch-up on the past nine years. BEFORE SUNSET is the real-time unfurling of their time together.
The beauty of this film lies in its simplicity. The camera fluidly follows Hawke and Delpy walking cobblestone streets and talking. It is so stripped down that it frees the actors, who share co-writing credit with Linklater, to deliver astonishingly naturalistic performances. Their discussion, moving rhythmically from suitably awkward apologies for the failed rendezvous in Vienna, to their private lives, is freighted with the underlying question of what if they really are meant for one another? The ending, perhaps the best of any film this year, leaves this gloriously open to personal interpretation.
BEFORE SUNSET, like it’s predecessor, has a quiet resonance about it. It makes you question the notions of fate, love and living for the moment. That relationships don’t always have a definitive narrative is superlatively reflected with super-economy and heart. This is unmissable and unforgettable romance for realists.
Hans (Email address withheld) writes:
Did anyone notice how Linklater reversed their personalities? How in the earlier film it was the female who was the hopeful, positive one, who believed in the psychic, in life and passion? And how the young male was the pessimistic one, who often tossed sand on her flame - but was still entranced by her fire? In the meantime they've lived terrible lives of disappointment and failure. And during the process their personalities 'swtiched' as if that magical night in Vienna was a metamorphosis for both of them. She, now, has become dark, brooding, has lost a certain sense of hope and has learned to merely accept what life gives her. He, greatly inspired by his passionate memories of her, despite a truly entrapped and unhappy life, has become the forever hopeful, the positive one, the one who dreams and even more believes in dreams. It's so interesting to listen to them as they stroll through the charming Parisian neighborhoods. Their personalities, like before, so opposite. Yet this time, reversed - due to that one earlier evening, strongly underlining just how much they need each other. Will there be a Part 3? Bringing up family? Enjoying their sharing a chocolate croisant with their little children as the stroll by the museums, forever musing on life's little details and grand imaginings? I could listen to them talk forever.
Diane Wakefield (timanddiane.wakefield@virgin.net) writes:
Achingly beautiful. Powerful. Addictive. Utterly beguiling. Both films are 'Mozart-like' in their simplicity and effectiveness - genius. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy display the most convincing sexual chemistry I have ever seen on screen. If there's any justice in this world(!) there will be a 3rd film. Can't wait.
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