 | | 02-06-2012, 12:24 PM |
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#60
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Elite Fan
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 39,200
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Welcome 
Quote:
Film: What comes after the Sunrise and Sunset?
30 Jan 2012
posted by David Sales
There will be a sequel to Before Sunset.
If that sentence didn’t just elicit some kind of visceral reaction from you then you have a lot of ground to cover before even beginning to understand why this warrants discussion.
In 1995, film director Richard Linklater teamed up with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy to create Before Sunrise. Here is the synopsis as taken from IMDB: “A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one romantic evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.” The movie happens in real-time; such that the 105 minute running time is exactly how long they have together “before sunrise” comes to set them on their separate ways. What happens during that time is nothing less than the most honest portrayal of two people falling in love ever put on film. There’s no overacting or grand gestures, no contrived scenarios meant to manufacture tension. The film’s just about two people who meet and spend an hour and a half getting to know one another, all the while knowing that said time will be all they get. They walk and talk and experience the town as strangers would, much the same as how they approach each other. They have their fortunes told, listen to records in a music store, and ride a Ferris wheel. They’re getting to know one another. They ride the trolley, pretend they’re calling their best friends about each other, and have wine in a park. They’re getting to know one another. And when sunrise comes, they say goodbye. As a standalone film, it was as good as any and better than most – much better in fact. It was elegant in its simplicity and incredible in its truthfulness.
Perhaps more remarkable, then, is the second film that the trio created nine years later in 2004. Before Sunset reunites the characters Jesse and Celine, also nine years later into their lives within the story. Their paths cross again in Paris as Jesse is on the last stop of his European book tour, which just happens to be at Celine’s favorite bookstore. What unfolds is another hour and half of two people catching up, reminiscing, and wondering what could have been – or what still could be. But nine years is a long time to go by, enough time to have loved and lost many times over. And sure enough, they’ve both grown and changed over the years. Jesse has a wife and child, and Celine is in a relationship with a war photojournalist. They talk about who they were and how they’ve turned into the people they are now. The tagline for the movie is “what if you had a second chance with the one that got away?” The question itself is more a thought experiment, because like the first movie, their time together is again limited. They have only from the time he is released from his last book tour obligation to just “before sunset” when he’s to leave Paris and fly back home. Now, I am thoroughly convinced that this film has the best ending that could have ever been conceived. There isn’t a more fitting and satisfyingly unsatisfying ending that would have served the film better. Any more and it would have been pandering and not in the spirit of the film(s) at all. Any less and it would have all been for nothing. Forgetting the tagline, the implicit question you really have to ask yourself is will two people who are meant for each other always choose to be with each other.
It is now 2012, eight years after the second in the series, and the three have again decided to revisit Jesse and Celine. By the time the film is completed it might very well be exactly another nine years. Will they be together or apart after all these years and will it have been the right decision in either case? I’m torn about the announcement of this third installment because the ending of Before Sunset was, in my opinion, perfect. To add another chapter and possibly ruin it would be tragic. But to build and expand upon their story in a way that does justice to the previous two films could be incredible. We can only wait and see. I’m reminded of a line from Before Sunset that I think really captures the sentiment. “I guess a memory is never finished. So long as you’re alive…”
Seriously. Just watch them.
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Source: Film: What comes after the Sunrise and Sunset? | iheardin
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