BEFORE SUNRISE: A French grad student named Celine (Julie Delpy) meets an
American boy named Jesse (Ethan Hawke) on the Budapest-Vienna train. They get
off the train in Vienna and hang out for a while. BEFORE SUNSET: Nine years ago,
two strangers met by chance, spent a night together in Vienna, and parted before
sunrise. Now, they're about to cross paths again - in Paris -- where they will
get the chance we all wish we had.
Most Helpful Customer Review:
So I've been on a pretty big Richard Linklater kick here lately. His profoundly minimalist and surreally thought-provoking films never fail to intrigue and perplex me. "Before Sunrise" and its companion "Before Sunset" are thus far among his most charming and engaging works. I must say though, after experiencing the absolutely mind-bending journey that is "Waking Life" (which I can only describe as a mad cross between "Slacker" and "The Wall"), something like this, while still pretty far from mainstream, seemed pretty pleasant and benign by comparison.
However, that's a relative measure, as this is not your average love story. It begins with "Before Sunrise", in which we see a young man named Jessie (Ethan Hawke), a tourist from America traveling across Europe. While on a train to Vienna, he meets a lovely French girl named Celine (Julie Delpy), and the two immediately hit it off. They end up spending the day together in Vienna, but both know that soon they must go their separate ways. This brings us to the sequel, "Before Sunset", where fate brings them back together 9 years later.
First of all, I'm glad to see that I'm able to review the two movies as a whole here, because to me it feels more like one continuous journey, even with the 9-year gap in between. After watching the first movie, I was a bit worried that making a sequel would ruin everything somehow, but it felt like such a perfect and natural continuation and the ending (which also could have potentially ruined everything) was about as flawless of a conclusion as they could have possibly done.
In true Linklater fashion, the structure of both films is very minimalist. The whole thing is essentially one long conversation, with the two characters moving from one setting to another (think "Slacker", but if they stayed with the same characters instead of constantly moving to new ones). The two touch on various deep and philosophical subjects, as well as goofy random things, and their chemistry is so perfect and natural you keep forgetting that you're watching a movie, and not just two people having a real conversation. As always, Hawke deftly delivers Linklater's cerebral dialogue like an Olivier to his Shakespeare, and Delpy brings to her character such a perfect combination of wit, sophistication, and charm. The two characters are both very intelligent, but not in a pretentious way that detracts from the human quality. That way, they still feel like "real people", even if they're not your average joes.
In the second film, we see the two reuniting in Paris, and while they've both moved on with their lives, that connection between them is obviously still there. This one gets a bit more intense emotionally, as the past 9 years have created a lot of unresolved feelings and issues between them that finally have the chance to come to the surface. This sort of takes away from the randomness and brings forth some semblance of (gasp!) a plot, but still the whole "movie about nothing" feel is never completely lost.
Overall, this is the kind of love story that I enjoy. It's never overly sappy or romantic for its own sake, and it doesn't insult your intelligence with some outrageous farfetched story. It's just a very natural and realistic story, and the circumstances create this sort of serendipitious romance that still somehow feels plausible. We've all experienced that "one that got away" kind of situation, and usually you just never see them again, but sometimes life gives you that sort of second chance, and it feels like some sort of fantastic fantasy. And, I like how they show that this second chance isn't without its complications, as opposed to just being "Yay, we're back together". That's what makes it feel more realistic and believable to me, that it's not perfect, that there's a lot of reality to go along with the fantasy.
Anyway, I feel I'm rambling a bit now, but I thoroughly enjoyed both of these films, and I think it's essential that they be viewed back to back. As with most Linklater films there is the inevitable "this isn't for everyone" disclaimer, but I think these are actually among his more accessible works (not including the more mainstream stuff like "Newton Boys" and "School of Rock"). While I enjoyed films like "Slacker" and "Waking Life", those were more like a pure assault on your mind, while here there's more of an emotional aspect to go along with making you think, and I really appreciated that. It manages to be simultaneously sweet and cerebral, which is very difficult to do this well. Even if you're not a Linklater fan, and you just appreciate a heart-warming if not unconventional love story, these two films are a must-see.
(Also, if you're brave enough to take on "Waking Life", Jessie and Celine make a sort of cameo appearance in it. It's not supposed to be canon with this story, but it's still pretty cool.)
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