Before Sunset (2004)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers (WGA):

Richard Linklater (screenplay) &
Julie Delpy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 June 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?

Plot:

It's nine years after Jesse and Celine first met; now, they encounter one another on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.

Plot Keywords:

Book | French | Reading | Love | Train

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Ethan Hawke	...	Jesse
Julie Delpy	...	Celine
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Bookstore Manager
Louise Lemoine Torres	...	Journalist #1
Rodolphe Pauly	...	Journalist #2
Mariane Plasteig	...	Waitress
Diabolo	...	Philippe
Denis Evrard	...	Boat Attendant
Albert Delpy	...	Man at Grill
Marie Pillet	...	Woman in Courtyard

Also Known As:

Before Sunrise 2 (USA) (working title)
If Not Now (USA) (working title)
Untitled Before Sunrise Sequel (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual references.

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Spain:13 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Czech Republic:U | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Bern) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15 | USA:R (Approved No. 40593) | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Warner Independent Pictures (WIP)

Trivia:

Jesse's last name is Wallace.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Celine and Jesse are entering Celine's apartment, she opens a "right hand" door, the next shot (from the inside) shows her opening a "left hand" door. It is not the same door.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Journalist #1: Do you consider the book to be autobiographical?
Jesse: Uh, well, I mean... isn't everything autobiographical?

Movie Connections:

Features Before Sunrise (1995)

Soundtrack:

Bach: Goldberg Variation Number 25

Reluctance

Finally, Linklater does something with his talent. His strength in the past has been to shape the form of his films to match the subject. At least that's been true when the subject is the tentativeness of existence.

He's done well enough in the past, but since his characters were aimless his projects inherited a meaninglessness. Where he tried to impart introspective layers with "Waking Life," those layers were trite threads of fake profundities. Well, never mind. Artists aren't required to be particularly smart — even about who they are and what they do.

What is required is the ability to discover and convey something that resonates. Usually in films the resonance is a sort of nervous recognition in the characters and situation. Sometimes, the manner of the film, the nature of the world presented is enough to engage. Such is the value of Kieslowski — and how he managed Delpy.

This film tries something different, something commonly attempted and almost never achieved: the direct drama of discovery between two people. This hosts the construction not in any story or setting or even situation, though they are all employed in the service of the goals. Instead, the whole thing revolves around the tentative motions toward intimacy between two people.

Why this usually fails is because of the unwieldy mechanics. In order to seem real (most reviewers call this film "veristic") the dramatic projection has to be hyperreal, but not so much that it appears artificial. So how do you dramatically amplify lightly probing intimacies? Its all in the most subtle hesitations of the actors, in that range beyond what "really" might happen and them forthrightly telling us what's happening.

The construction is perfect: all movies are about other movies. In this case, we literally have the last chapter of the romance as a movie with movie values and memories. More, those are romantically captured in a book that one character carries from the previous movie into this one. Thus, all their discussion, all their reluctances are about having the present film approach the previous one.

I'm astonished at the perfection of the idea, as astonished as I am about how well the two, especially Delpy, support it. This is delicate stuff.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.