Sunday, January 16th, 2005

BEFORE SUNSET

BEFORE SUNSET
Directed by Richard Linklater
Written by Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy
Review by Karie Bible


If you are expecting high tech special effects and explosions, this is not the film for you.  If you enjoy “meet cute” scenarios and swelling orchestral music, seek your cinematic enjoyment elsewhere.  This film is something altogether different.  Before Sunset begins nine years after Before Sunrise ended.  The sharp American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and the wise emotional French girl Celine (Julie Delpy) fell in love in the first film after spending a romantic night in Vienna together.  When they parted company before dawn, they vowed to meet again at the same location in 6 months.  Now it is nine years later and their lives have drastically changed.  Jesse is a successful writer who seems on the surface to have the perfect life, but is in reality trapped in a loveless marriage for the sake of his son.  Celine has become an environmental activist and while she has a boyfriend, she has drifted in and out of past relationships and approaches them with a measure of frustration and fear.  When Celine shows up at Jesse’s book signing, it as though time has stood still.  They go for a walk before Jesse is due to catch his plane.  The film is in real time and covers the hour and twenty minutes before Jesse must fly home.  In that brief time, the characters catch up and discuss their lives and their hopes of what might have been, and what could be.


The thing that I found so moving about this film is how real it feels.  There is no sense of artifice.  The characters are complicated, flawed, and very realistic.  The camera work and editing are seamless.  It is very easy to forget that you are actually watching a movie.  You feel their pain and you care about what happens to them.  While the movie is what some would refer to as a “talking heads” film, it is never boring for a second.  Shot in Paris, there are plenty of lush settings surrounding the characters and encasing them in a beautiful almost other worldly space.  The film is so moving and stands out so much there are so few films that come anywhere close to accessing the emotional truth that this one does.  So many contemporary films are movies that essentially reflect the influence other movies.  Very few of them seem to stem from the simple truth or quiet moments of real life.  Deftly directed by Richard Linklater, this film is a mature and thoughtful effort.  Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have incredibly strong chemistry that is seldom seen in movies anymore. 


This film is a heartfelt slice of life that stands in great contrast to the other Hollywood summer fare.  Before Sunset is beautiful and well worth the experience of seeing.

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