rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2004
Directed by Richard Linklater; produced by Richard Linklater, Anna Walker-McBay; screenplay by Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Starring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff, Louise Lemoine Torres, Rodolphe Pauly, Mariane Plasteig
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
Nine years have passed since Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy)
met on a train, walked around in Vienna for one night, said goodbye with an
agreement to meet six months later in Vienna again. Nine years have passed
since 'Before Sunrise'. Jesse has written a book about the night we saw in
that film and in 'Before Sunset' he is in Paris for a book-signing when
Celine suddenly stands before him. He has to catch a plane but there is time
to walk around, this time in Paris, to get on with their conversation from
'Before Sunrise'.
'Before Sunset' has a lot of un-answered questions at the beginning. Did one
of them, or both, went to Vienna as agreed? Are they married or living with
someone, or not? Are they happy now? Do they still think about that night?
All of these questions get an answer, kind of. The fun thing here is that
both characters do not want to look vulnerable so we can never tell for sure
whether they are telling the truth. They walk and talk, looking so natural,
while the camera just looks at them in long shots. We desperately want these
people to be together, the way we already wanted that in 'Before Sunrise'.
We know how that ended.
I liked 'Before Sunrise' very much but I loved 'Before Sunset'. Technically
it is quite an achievement with the long takes while Jesse and Celine are
walking through the city, also remembering their perfectly written dialog.
But I do not think people will love it for the technical things. The beauty
comes from little moments, moments I mentioned when you can not be sure
whether they are telling the truth. Both are probably thinking the same.
What if I say I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you, and
you are not very impressed? This is how it often goes in real life; someone
has to take a chance.
That the screenplay this time is co-written by Hawke and Delpy helps since
they have played and therefore understand the characters. I can imagine how
the little body movements that say so much are created by them. With 'Before
Sunset' director Richard Linklater has made his best film yet, although all
of his films are at least good. Here it is the sweetness of the characters
and the screenplay they are moving in, and probably the perfect ending has
something to do with it as well. If all movies would end as subtle as this
one, movie-life would be perfect.