Before Sunset Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)July 12th, 2004
"Before Sunset"
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) spent a magical, romantic night together in Vienna, ending with the promise to meet again in six months. Nine years later, Jesse, now a best selling author, is in Paris touting his new book. As he answers questions and autographs copies of his novel he spots Celine watching him from the sidelines. He flight home leaves that evening and, once again, they only have a short time together with a whole lot of questions to be answered in Richard Linklater's "Before Sunset."
Writer/director Linklater has created a true labor of love with his follow up to the charming romance, "Before Sunrise." Back in 1995, the oh-so-young Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy showed a remarkable amount of chemistry with each other as Jesse and Celine meet on a train traveling from Budapest to Vienna then spend the night wandering the latter city and fall in love, before Jesse boards a plane the next morning. It was a talkie kind of movie as the young couple discuss their lives, dreams and ambitions. When they part, they pledge to meet in six months time and, as the credits rolled, you genuinely hoped they would.
Now, nine years have passed and Jesse is talking up his new book at the Shakespeare & Co. book store in Paris. From the gist of the questions and answers you gather that the pledge went unfulfilled and Jesse's book is his response. Then, he sees Celine. He asks her to have a coffee with him to kill time before he gets on yet another plane heading home. She agrees and the two pick up where they left off, only they are older, hopefully wiser, and much more cynical.
Helmer Linklater cowrote the screenplay of this little charmer in collaboration with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy and the trio have done an amazing job. Jesse and Celine may have picked up where they left off nine years ago, but they are very different from the fresh faced, innocent pair we met in Vienna. Jesse has become an author of some note and Celine has made a career as an environmentalist. They have both been successful in their work, but they have not fared so well with other aspects of their lives. As the camera follows them through the streets of Paris they freely discuss what kept them from meeting on that Viennese bridge years ago.
The chemistry that Hawke and Delpy developed in "Before Sunrise" is back, again, in spades as they tell each other about their lives, loves and losses. They are both a little tougher and more cynical, now, because of their life experiences but the attraction between them is undiminished. As the time before Jesse must leave dwindles away, there is an urgency to their meeting as they have so much to say and so little time to say it. As I watched "Before Sunset" I found myself wishing I could turn back the clock to give the couple more time together. This wish, alone, shows just how much magnetic energy these two characters (and the actors playing them) have.
Techs are simple but elegant. Lee Daniels's fluid lensing keeps things tight on the two stars as they walk and talk through the Parisian streets and along the Seine. The city is a beautiful backdrop for these beautiful people but the camera reserves its unblinking eye for the couple. This is definitely not travelogue material. You won't get a bunch of F/X here but you do get a finely crafted and superbly acted romance.
Hawke and Delpy are worth the price of admission for "Before Sunset" as they talk about everything under the sun, from careers to personal relationships to the environment. There is a rushed feeling as they try to tell each other everything but have only a short time to do so. The ending is beautifully handled with its note of hopeful ambiguity.
The one thing I hope for after seeing "Before Sunset" is that Linklater and his stars will visit us again in eight or 10 years time. I give it a B+.
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