Before Sunset Review
by Jerry Saravia (faustus_08520 AT yahoo DOT com)September 22nd, 2005
BEFORE SUNSET (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Three stars and a half
Who would have guessed that it would take the
reunion of director Richard Linklater and actors
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy to make a truly
blissful, bittersweet romantic comedy? Well, I
am happy to report that "Before Sunset" is a lovely,
melancholy and disarmingly sweet surprise - a
fascinating sequel to "Before Sunrise" that left
me swooning and on a happy high note of bliss. I
normally don't say such things but I respect a solid
romantic film when I see one.
Ethan Hawke is back as Jesse, an unhappily married
author who is promoting his newest book in Paris. The
story of his novel dictates the brief romantic fling he had with nine years earlier Celine (Julie Delpy) in Vienna, which is the basic story of "Before Sunrise." Lo and behold, at a bookshop where he's promoting his book, a beaming Celine
turns up. Jesse is distracted yet smitten all over again. They talk as they parade one end of Paris to another, discussing a wide variety of topics such as marriage, politics, age, looks, books and, inevitably, their own blissful fling. They were supposed to have met back in Vienna a mere six months after meeting each other, and only Jesse made it for this encounter.
Wait a minute, so this is all just mere conversation? No sex, drugs, rock and roll? No plot? I would say yes to all three questions, but are we forgetting that this is a sequel to a movie that was just about two people talking? Think of it this way: About ten years ago, I found myself wandering the streets of King's Point, NY after getting out of class from Queens College, thinking foolishly that I'd find a way to get to my Port Washington home on foot. No such luck. The point is that I wish someone had been walking with me for those three long hours, preferably of the opposite sex. If you understand that notion, "Before Sunset" will work miracles for you.
It has been nine years since I saw "Before Sunrise." I respected the film and found it was entrancing in its own conceit of just following two people who met on a train to Venice. The sequel has them all grown up and in their thirties, and I'd be remiss if I didn't feel like I had seen the original just the other day. It is like seeing two friends and playing catch-up - are they the same? Do they have the same interests? Are they are as romantic as they were in their twenties?
It is not fair to say much more. "Before Sunset" is all dialogue but never boring (Hawke and Delpy co-wrote
the screenplay). This is not simply a travelogue of Paris either as director Richard Linklater uses the Steadicam
to follow our two wanna-be lovers from one street and
canal to another. Scenes in a coffee bar are accomplished
with traditional close-ups and they work because they are
used appropriately. It also helps that Ethan Hawke's Jesse
and Julie Delpy's Celine are such engaging, three-dimensional characters - you want to follow them forever. The film's ending has an implied sense of regret as their lives took on different routes. One wonders if they wish they could rejuvenate their love or if they accept their standing in life. The fact that they question it and discuss it makes this one of the more romantic and bittersweet films of our times. If you're sick of prefab romantic claptrap with J. Lo and company, observe "Before Sunset."
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