Before Sunset Movie Review

Before Sunset (2004)

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Written by: Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke (screenplay), Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan (story), Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan (characters)
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Rated: R
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Plot
Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.

Verdict
It's a continuation of the first movie, and it doesn't work nearly as well on it's own. When viewed as one movie, it's a beautiful narrative. With this movie they're looking at the present and the past. That past is the first movie, and the contrast and changes create an underlying negative.
Watch it.

Review
The sequel to Before Sunset, this relies and builds on the original heavily. We get to see Jesse and Celine nine years later. The characters and the actors have grown up. They address their one night together and the fateful meeting that never occurred. Despite the heartache of the unrequited love,they are able to resume their conversation, catching up on what they've done in life.

Jesse wrote a book about his night with Celine. That's how she found him. She tells him he's romanticized the night.  It's an understated meeting as I assume they have a multitude of feelings. That was potentially the best night of their lives. The initial meeting feels like it's from Jesse's point of view. All this time has passed, he wrote a book about this meeting and while they are cordial, you want more to happen. It's realistic as portrayed.

We discover that Jesse did meet up but Celine was unable to. At first he played it off that he didn't return, but when she asks him why he didn't he admits he did. They pick up where they left off, walking around Paris this time. Jesse is married, which puts a damper on shipping them.

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke play Celine and Jesse.

In the first movie Jesse was a romantic playing at being a cynic. Celine is much more cynical in this movie. Both of them romanticized the night. Celine had been dismissive the entire day, but she sings Jesse a song at his urging and it reveals how much the night meant to her. It makes sense that she was so dismissive. She had an amazing, unrepeatable night. What do you do with that? She dismissed it to avoid the pain of never seeing Jesse again. Jesse admits that even on his wedding day he was looking for Celine. This movie ends in a perfect place.

This movie doesn't work nearly as well on it's own. The first movie is required watching. I can't imagine one without the other. This movie references the first frequently, and together they create a narrative, a history of two characters.

I often criticize sequels for not standing on their own, but this one could stand on it's own, their chance encounter left to the imagination. I like to think of the two as one long movie though. The first movie rebels against traditional narrative. The fact that this movie tries it again while not just succeeding but building on the first movie to create an even deeper narrative is an impressive bit of film making.