Before Sunset (2004)

Before Sunset review in anticipation of Before Midnight

Today Before Midnight is released in the Netherlands and I’m extremely excited to see it (my ticket is already booked), so I thought it was a good moment to revisit its predecessor, just to remind myself what had happened in the previous film (although my memory was quite clear on it). Although i can’t say yet that the “Before trilogy” is possibly one of the strongest trilogies out there, I have the feeling that based on the quality of the previous two movies it is a safe statement. But first my thoughts on the second movie, set in Paris, Before Sunset.

Before Sunset review in anticipation of Before Midnight

Before Sunrise was released in 1995 and introduced Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), two people who happened to meet in the train to Vienna. They got to know each other and as a viewer you are pulled into their worlds, because you get to know them as well. At the end of the movie they promise each other something and you are left to wonder if they kept it. You wonder what would have happened between the two. 9 years later Before Sunset was released and you could finally get an answer to those questions.

The movie opens with imagery of various locations in Paris: small streets, a café, the Seine, a park. They are all locations where the continuation of the story of Jesse and Celine will take place. Jesse is now a successful author and does a reading of his new book. Just as he’s about to finish he sees that Celine is also in the store and the two decide to go for a walk together, talking about their lives.

Before Sunset review in anticipation of Before Midnight

I could write down a lot about their conversations, but it would not add much to a review. The thing is that the way they talk does never feel scripted. They talk about their lives, their past, their experiences and what issues they are having. These are the kind of conversations you could imagine having yourself (depending on your own age). These characters are 9 years older than they were in the previous movie and it has changed their outlook on life. They have become more realistic about things and dream less. It’s life experience that you see.

Time flies when you are having fun and even though this movie is just 80 minutes long, it feels like the movie is a lot shorter. You want to spend more time with these characters and hear more of their conversations. Just like Before Sunrise this offers a slice of life, perfectly molded into a movie. I have had to wait another 9 years in order to find out what Jesse and Celine have been up to, so I’m excited to hear them talking again tonight in Before Midnight.

11 thoughts on “Before Sunset (2004)

  1. I’ve seen none of the Before films. I’m planning on watching Before Midnight soon and I want to catch up with the other ones before. Nice review.

  2. Like you, I’m excited for “Before Midnight”. I have found memories of “Before Sunset”, and I am happy it held up well in your memory. Hopefully it does for me as well when I watch it tonight.

    Since I only watched the “Before” film when they first came out I decided to use this week to revisit them before watching “Before Midnight” this weekend.

    • I loved the latest one (review is up now), hope you’ll get as much out of it as I did. I’m planning on rewatching the first one again…

  3. …great film. Reminds me the romance genre is not dead even though it is populated with mediocrity. Not Before Sunset though…

    …looking forward to seeing the new one.

    • It is, unfortunately there aren’t too many movies which are similar to this. The only ones that I can come up with are Lost in Translation and Once.

      The new one is very good.

  4. This is such a great series. I really liked Before Sunrise but Before Sunset completely sucked me in. I love Paris. I love this couple. I love the writing. I love the direction. Everything works so fluidly. Great review of a great film.

  5. I am going to wait until I see the third one before I read your review, but I wanted to comment on this one. For me Before Sunset is a rare sequel that works right along side the first one.
    I agree with you that the dialoug never feels scripted which made me enjoy it (and I usually hate romantic movies)

    • Completely understand that, I never read reviews of a specific movie before I’ve seen it and written my own, but I can say the new one is awesome.

      There are not many movies which are comparable, although I might be wrong about that 🙂

  6. Pingback: » Movie Review – Before Midnight Fernby Films

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