An afternoon in Paris

Before Sunset (2004)

Directed by Richard Linklater

Screenplay by Linklater, Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy (Based on characters created by Linklater and Krim Krizan)

**** (out of 4)

Before Sunset is the rare sequel that exceeds its predecessor. It is even more immediate, honest and affecting than the stellar Before Sunrise. It is the product of several years of meditation and discussions between director Richard Linklater and his two stars, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The fact Hawke and Delpy were so involved in the screenplay illustrates how three-dimensional the characters are and how well the two actors know them. It shows because the dialogue is once again natural and intelligent.

The film takes place in Paris nine years after Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) spent an unforgettable night together in Vienna. This time around they have even less time to spend together as Jesse must be at the airport by 7:30 for his flight home. They meet yet again by chance as Jesse is giving a talk at small Parisian bookstore to promote his book about his night with Celine nine years ago. The narrative is much more urgent than Before Sunrise because all 77 minutes of the film unfolds in real time. Linklater’s direction reflects this by once again utilizing long takes, only 9 or 10 locations and many scenes in which the camera moves with the characters as they talk. Many films today have an average shot length (ASL) of a couple seconds or so, while Before Sunset cuts on average of once every 10.1 minutes. This works because the dialogue is so stimulating the viewer does not want to be distracted by superfluous cutting.

The reason I think Before Sunset and Before Sunrise resonates with so many people is because it is a meditation on romantic love—an idealized love in our times. It is a rare type of love that connects two people who are completely in tune with each other mentally, physically and spiritually. Just being together and sharing their lives with each other makes Jesse and Celine happier than they have probably ever been. The films can also be sad for some because it may remind them that they have given up on romantic love and have settled for a pedestrian, mechanical relationship where love has waned and it is just a matter of going through the motions.

At first, Jesse and Celine believe each other is happy in their current relationships. Jesse is married, has a boy and his book is a small best seller. Celine works for an environmental agency and says she is happy with her boyfriend, a war-time photographer who only sees her once or twice a week. In reality, neither is as happy as they were that night in Vienna. Each believes they have given up on the notion of romantic love:

Jesse: I just...I don't wanna be one of those people who are...getting divorced at 52 and falling down into tears admitting that they never really loved their spouse, and they feel that their life has been (waves his hand, as if being pulled) sucked up into a vacuum cleaner! You know, I want a great life. I want her to have a great life. She deserves that! Alright? But we're just living in a pretense of a marriage, responsibility and all these...just...ideas of how people are supposed to live. Then I...I have these dreams...

Céline: What dreams?

Jesse: (Looks away distantly.) I have these dreams, you know, that I’m…I'm standing on a platform, and uh, you keep going by on a train, and...you go by, and you go by, and you go by, and you go by, and I wake up with the f’n sweats, you know? And then I have this other dream, oh...where you're...pregnant, in bed beside me, naked, and I want so badly to touch you, but you tell me not to and then you look away and...and I...I...I touch you anyway, right on your ankle and your skin is so soft and I wake up in sobs, alright? (Inhales deeply.) And my wife is sitting there looking at me, and I feel like I'm a million miles from her, and I know that there's something...wrong! (Céline reaches out to stroke Jesse’s face, but pulls her hand back before he sees her.) You know, that I ca...that I can't keep living like this, that there's gotta be something more to love than commitment. But then I think that...I might have given up...on the whole idea of romantic love. That I...I might have put it to bed that...that day when you weren't there. You know, I think I might have done that.

Céline: (Eyes starting to water again.) Why are you telling me all this?

Jesse: I'm sorry. I don't know, I'm...I...I should...I...I shouldn't have.

Céline: You know, it's so weird...that people think they are the only one going through tough times. I mean when I read the article I thought...your life was perfect. A wife, a kid, a published author. (Jesse laughs.) Your personal life is more of a mess than mine! I'm sorry! (Both laugh.)

Like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset is a film that could not have been as effective with lesser actors or chemistry. The dialogue excerpt above is from the discussion in the car where a rare argument and frustrated discussion between Jesse and Celine takes place. This scene is a lot more difficult than it looks because it is brutally honest and emotional and there is no cutting to hide faces or reactions. The camera is on Hawke and Delpy until this discussion is over and they deliver splendidly.

Despite Jesse and Celine’s mundane relationships with other people, each still hangs onto the notion of romantic love. There is still a strong connection between the two as they discuss everything from the environment to conflict in the world to spirituality to living in New York to appreciating the fine details in life:

Celine: Maybe I'm crazy, but...when I was a little girl, my mom told me that I was always late to school. One day she followed me to see why. I was looking at chestnuts falling from the trees rolling on the sidewalk or...ants crossing the road...the way a leaf casts a shadow on a tree trunk...little things. I think it's the same with people. I see in them little details so specific to each of them that move me and that I miss, and...will always miss. You can never replace anyone, because everyone is made of such beautiful specific details.

(Smiling directly at Jesse.) Like I remember the way your beard has a little bit of red in it. And how the sun was making it glow that...that morning, right before you left. I remember that and...I missed it! I'm really crazy, right?

Before Sunset is yet another gem from Linklater, Hawke and Delpy. It is a fine piece of cinema verite filmmaking that serves as a meditation on romantic love. Should people strive for this idealized love or is this reserved only for a select number of fortunate (and perhaps lucky) individuals? The ending of Before Sunset is fittingly ambiguous and gives us no real answer as to what will come of Jesse and Celine’s relationship. To answer this question would, as Jesse quoting his grandfather would say—“take the piss out of the whole thing.”

This reviewer hopes Linklater, Hawke and Delpy will revisit these characters in the future under the right circumstances and only with another superb screenplay. If not, the indefinite conclusion of Before Sunset and Celine’s sublime waltz (written by Delpy) are an appropriate ending to an exceptional series.

Before Sunrise Review

Celine's Waltz

Trailer