Hermia

Okay, this film is officially one of my all time favourites. I have loved before sunrise for so many years and this follow up was so beautifully made. I came out of the cinema not knowing whether to laugh or cry. It was just so touching. Perfect.

wanderer78

The ending was an absolute killer, wasn't it?

UnsilentMajorty

I searched the board, and I swear we did have a thread for this...

But since it is now on DVD, I thought I would start a thread.

One word: Phenomenal.

If you liked the first "Before Sunrise" you're really going to like this installment.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy give stellar performances as they reprise their roles as Jesse and Celine... But now, with real life history (ten years) having past both on and off screen that has shaped how their characters have turned out since their first encounter in Vienna during the Summer of '94.

What I really like about the film is the fact that director Richard Linklater (who helmed the first film) really allowed his characters to age, but at the same time, remain who they were in the first film.

The discussions they have this time around (while walking around Celine's Paris neighborhood) are just as wordy and intellectual as ever... But they are tempered with the realities of how life changes your outlook when you are young from widly idealistic to a more refined cynacism as you mature... But always with a sense of enduring optimism that lies just beneath the surface, no matter how hard life gets and how much we think we loose the dreams of youth.

The film also addresses the core idea that Jesse and Celine are/were meant to be together... Even going as far as to answer some of the questions that were left after the first one as to whether or not Jesse or Celine actually returned six months later as they promised each other at the end of the first film.

A lot of films become known as the defining film for a generation such as "Fight Club" for the children of the '80s and "Garden State" for Generation Y.

"Before Sunset" best fits those of us who are in our 30s (Generation X) and are still wondering "What's it [life] all about?" and asking if things are going to get better than this. The answer: Maybe they don't have to as long as we find the one person who we're meant to be with and share this long journey that we're all on that we call life.

1/2 out of five.

(half a star taken off for the ending which may disappoint some, but that is actually fitting given the history of the first film).

Timeo

It's out on DVD!? Dude, I HAVE to get it!

...but then again that's what I said with the last three movies that I said that I'd do it. Still, concerted effort to go and actually buy this movie, for I will enjoy it greatly I think.

HEE! What a good movie.

mukooh

'before sunset' is one of my favorite films of 2004.....i was lucky enough to have seen it in a theater..........now maybe more of the people who post to this forum will be able to see this wonderful film now that's available on dvd........


i thought the ending was quite appropriate.....but when it ended i thought...."no that's not right....what happens next?......why did it have to end so soon........give me more, more and more".........to be continued????

i would rate 'before sunset' with
for meaningful dialouge told in an adult manner..............

AdriaMichelle

I have to get this and "Before Sunrise" on DVD. Sounds like a great movie. I will most defintely check this movie one of these days after reading these positive reviews. Thanks so much for the reviews UnsilentMajority and mukooh.

wanderer78

I saw it in the theater and thought it was just wonderful. I'm so glad it's out on DVD.

dixieland_dreamer

I rented this movie tonight. Loved it. I watched "Before Sunrise" about a month ago and couldn't wait until the sequel came out on DVD. The ending did kind of jar me for a minute - I didn't want it to end so soon! But I love the way Ethan and Julie portray the characters. Jesse and Celine just have a way of sucking you right in and making you want them together so badly!

Have to buy both these movies on DVD...have to.

Summer Belle

I LOVE both "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset". Unfortunitely I couldn't see this movie in theatre back in August, but I just rented it a few night ago, and although I did like Sunrise better, this one was still beautiful and awe inspiring.

UnsilentMajorty

What is really cool that I forgot to mention in my initial review...

Is both Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawk co-wrote the movie with Richard Linklater.

These three are listed as screenwriters which is why I think the dialogue comes off so natural and not forced in any of the (brief) discussions they have in this film.

The other thing that I thought was interesting is that on the DVD there is a featurette on the making of Before Sunset and all three of them give their takes on doing a sequel and some of the things that went into the writing and rehersals prior to shooting.

Ethan had always wanted to do a follow up to Before Sunrise as did Julie Delpy and Richard Linklter had actually envisioned a series of movies that chronicled the couples trials and tribulations as a couple as they mature from young and idealistic to more mature and cynical over the years, but always the two of them staying together.

Julie Delpy purposefully made (wrote) Celine the exact opposite of her personality in real life whereas Ethan made Jesse almost autobiographical... And I think the contrast works perfectly given the context of the chararacters and the things the actors have been through like Ethan really going through a divorce from wife Uma Thurman and having kids of his own.

This kind of authenticity shows through the characters and I think it is a true testament to the art of storytelling in that this film is only 80 minutes long and that is exactly how much time Jessie says he has to see Celine before he has to get on a plane back to the U.S. There is a real sense of time and urgency and why I think this movie is just the right length given the subject matter.

goodnightboy

I wanted to watch Before Sunset, but I didn't watch Before Sunrise so I kept procastinating. Should I still watch Before Sunset, since I haven't watched the first?

It's cool though that it's co-written by them why is it that Julie Delpy made Celine so different from her ordinary self, but Ethan Hawke made it so similiar? Does anyone know why?

UnsilentMajorty

I would rent (or buy) both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset and watch them IN THAT ORDER.

I say watch them in order not just because Before Sunset is a sequel...

But because Before Sunset builds on how the characters have changed, both emotionally (and physically to a degree) over the course of 10 years from when we first meet them in Before Sunrise.

Also, for continuity's sake... Jesse and Celine make a lot of references about things they said and did (or maybe didn't do) in Before Sunrise during the conversations they have in Before Sunset.

RE: Why Celine isn't Julie, but Jesse is Ethan...

Julie said (in the featurette) that she's been an actress all of her life starting at a very young age... So, she wanted to make Celine the "life she would have lived" if she hadn't gone into acting.

Like Celine, Julie probably would have gone into politics, then into activism like Celine does in the film.

I think the reason Jesse is more or less Ethan is because he wanted to draw on some of those life experiences -- such as having kids; getting divorced -- To bring a feeling of authenticity to Jesse that a lot of people in their 30s are feeling right now (they don't know what exactly they want to be, so they end up being and doing things, like getting married, simply because society and something inherent in our culture/society tells them to... And then they realize that's not enough to sustain a relationship, or make them happy in the strictest sense).

The contrast(s) in Jesse/Celine, Ethan/Julie also has to do with the storyline in that at its core... Before Sunset is also a "second chance at love" movie and this fits in with the things both of their characters have gone through and it is cemented by Ethan/Jesse's own real life experiences about marrying the wrong person and finding the real love of his (your in general) life.

goodnightboy

Thanks I think I won't bother watching Before Sunset in the cinema, I'll just get both DVDs or something.

UnsilentMajorty

I think you should see Before Sunset in the theater because even though it is not a big, multimillion dollar blockbuster with big action sequences...

The fact the medium itself (film; a 40x20' screen) makes the impact of the things that are discussed in the film that much better.

I wish I had seen it in the theater so, if you can, definitely go see it there even if you have to see Before Sunrise after it

goodnightboy

Right. So I should go see it in the theatres? Fantastic I just need to find someone to accompany me, my mom doesn't like me going to watch alone. Hmm. It'd be best if I could watch it in this order, right?: Before Sunset in theatre, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset again