"Before Sunset" - Film Review

Before Sunset is a sequel that could so easily feel unnecessary or cheap. Before Sunrise told such a sweet and perfectly encapsulated story that to move beyond it could come off as trite. Before Sunset works so well, perhaps even better than its predecessor, by deepening the emotions that it explores. The film keeps returning to the events of Before Sunrise, but they’re no longer purely romantic with hindsight. There’s bitterness, sadness and longing underlying the film, and the emotional maturity of the story makes it all the more powerful and satisfying.

Before Sunrise told the story of an American man and a French woman (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy) who meet by chance on a European train and decide to spend one day together in Vienna where they walked around the city and talk about love and life. They fall deeply for eachother over the course of the day. Before Sunset is set nine years later where by chance Jesse and Celine meet eachother once more, this time in Paris, where Celine is now living. Jesse has written and published a semi-successful book fictionalizing the events of that one night he had with Celine, and Celine stops in on a book signing. We learn what happened at the planned six month later meet up discussed at the end of Before Sunrise, and more importantly we learn where the two stand about that one day they spent together. 

The two almost immediately fall back into their easy patterns of discussion as if a day hasn’t passed by. The films dialogue (written by Delphy, Hawke and director Richard Linklater) is something special; casual, smart, witty, sad, and quite unlike that of any other film. They walk around Paris, discussing what’s happened to them in the time intervening their meetings. It’s here that the film finds its strongest material. If Before Sunrise was about two young people involved in romantic idealistic yearning, then Before Sunset is about two people who have become more cynical and bitter about romance and love. They’re older and wiser. And yet they can’t shake hold of that one night they shared together, which is the subtext of everything they talk about and feel in this second encounter.   

Before Sunset is a beautiful movie. It’s bittersweet and somber, but much like these two people who seem destined to meet only in brief walkabouts around famous European cities, there’s a spurned romantic at its core. And in between the longing for what once was and what is the film finds some poignant truths and some lovely observations about life and love. 

Grade: A