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Before Sunset
2004
When Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) met on a Eurail train, the connection between them was immediate and profound. The 14-hour relationship that followed, as the pair explored the spontaneous and unexpected in Vienna, ended on a train platform where they swore they'd meet again six months later. Nine years .. Read more
| Starring | Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy |
|---|---|
| Director | Richard Linklater |
| Genres | Drama, Romance |
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Before Sunset
When Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) met on a Eurail train, the connection between them was immediate and profound. The 14-hour relationship that followed, as the pair explored the spontaneous and unexpected in Vienna, ended on a train platform where they swore they'd meet again six months later. Nine years have passed since that morning. On the last stop of his book tour, at the tail end of a reading in a Paris book shop, Jesse finds Celine watching from the back of the room. She lives in Paris now, he in New York. He's flying out that evening and they utilize every moment, finding their human connection no less vital, inspiring or real than it was in nine years ago in Vienna. In a stimulating and revealing journey through Paris, in real time, these two individuals explore the inner workings of their hearts and minds and rediscover their rare yet powerful love for the unexpected, the unrehearsed, and each other.
| Starring | Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy |
|---|---|
| Director | Richard Linklater |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 17 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Romance |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 07 Feb 2005 Production year: 2004 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Nine years after their brief encounter in Vienna in Before Sunrise, director Richard Linklater reunites his two lovers for a second tryst, this time in Paris. Meeting “by chance” in a city bookshop, the pair talk of the past (they had vowed to meet up six months after their night in Vienna), their present and possible futures during the course of a 70-minute stroll that plays out in real time. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise the roles of Jesse and Céline, slipping effortlessly back into them while adding layers of age and experience. Linklater directs his often perceptive script (co-written with Delpy and Hawke) with economy and quiet style. Fans of the first film will need no urging to see this sequel, but those who missed the first meeting of Jesse and Céline may feel a little left out in the cold, as an already developed affection for these talky and at times pretentious characters is a definite bonus.
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Two people talk of the ways their lives have gone since their brief relationship and whether the love they have for one another was best sustained by absence in a charming, gentle and slight sequel to Before Sunrise (qv).
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Most helpful member's review
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87 out of 101 people found this review helpful
Brief re-encounter
In 1995 a young American named Jesse(Ethan Hawke) was travelling through Europe when he noticed an attractive French girl on the same train. Summoning up the courage to talk to her he invited Celine(Julie Delpy) to have lunch with him and it's clear the two have a natural connection. When it's time for Jesse to get off the train he persuades Celine to come with him and the pair spend a romantic night together in Vienna.
The result was 'Before Sunrise', Richard Linklater's charmingly romantic film which ended on a cliff-hanger as Jesse and Celine promised to meet up in Vienna in exactly six months. So what happened? Did they both travel to see each other again? Or did they forget about their night of passion and get on with their lives?
Now we know. 'Before Sunset' is the story of Jesse and Celine's first meeting since that night. Jesse is now a novelist(the plot of his book sounds suspiciously familiar) with a wife and children and when he's at a book signing in Paris he suddenly spots Celine waiting outside. They only have a short amount of time to catch up before Jesse has to catch a plane. Can they rekindle what they had that night? Will they risk everything for a second chance?
'Before Sunset' is nothing short of a masterpiece. Co-written by Linklater, Hawke and Delpy, the screenplay is stripped of anything that isn't honest, intelligent and romantic. As Jesse and Celine's initial awkwardness eases into a familiar intimacy, they spend an afternoon walking around Paris as they catch up on their lives.
Soon their dialogue starts to reveal a little more about their regret at not following up that night in Vienna, their lives have been tainted with a thought of what might have been. The film is shot in real time and it's impossible not to get sucked in by the intimate, eloquent dialogue. Linklater makes himself anonymous and lets Hawke and Delpy carry the film, which they do so effortlessly. They hardly seem to be acting at all here, so natural and easy is their chemistry. Hawke is funny and engaging while Delpy seems to grow more beautiful with each passing year.
As the would-be lovers come close to their time limit and reality looms on the horizon, the time for decision making rears it's head. Linklater wraps things up with an ending as perfect as any I've ever seen in the movies.
You don't need to have seen 'Before Sunrise' to appreciate this film as a few deft flashbacks give you all the information you need to know. To all viewers I really can't recommend this stunning film highly enough. It's sweet, sad, funny and heartbreaking all at once and, given the usual fare Hollywood passes off as 'romantic', it feels almost miraculous. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Rare and unusual
This is a bit like 24 if it was about Jack Bauer bumping into an old flame while abroad on routine business.
It uses the real time idea to outline a couple's reacquaintance after 7 years. It can't really be said to be ripping off 24 due to the original film doing something very similar, though not quite in real time, well before the hit US show.
Do not see this without seeing Before Sunrise 1st as you won't get the full effect unless you know the characters. Although the original isn't quite so good, as a whole this is an exceptional series that according to the disc extras those involved wish to revisit over an extended time period in order to fully examine a long term relationship. This pair of lovers seems destined to spend short, very intense, periods of time with each other.
The characterisation is amazing in this sequel, which will shine through if you rent both of films and watch back to back.You'll see many layers to each character that in the second film will seem so amazingly real that you'll thing you know them like friends or have at least had them as neighbours for years. -
News and features
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2 Days in Paris
- 28 Aug 2007
Paris je t'aime, moi no plus- Julie Delpy's cheeky unofficial follow up to Richard Linklater's Before Sunset is a kind of anti-romantic comedy about an earnest expatriate Parisienne introducing her neurotic American bf to her parents. Jack (Adam Goldberg) is anxious to make a good impression, but more anxious about the mold in the bathroom, the skinned rabbit destined to end up on his plate, and the constricting nature of European condoms. He's not much impressed with Paris, either, but duly... Read more
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