I haven�t seen Before Sunrise, but it�s helpfully summarised in the opening minutes. Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke were Celine and Jesse (respectively), twenty-something travellers who met in Vienna on a train. Jesse convinced her to get off the train with him and spend the night together. Over the course of the night, they fell in love but had to part. They agreed to meet back in Vienna in six months.
Nine years later, Jesse has written a book about the night. Doing a book signing in Paris, Celine comes to meet him, to his surprise. They didn�t meet six months after the first night, and Jesse now has a plane to catch very soon. This time, he decides to walk around Paris with Celine ?until he has to leave for the airport.
The film takes place in real-time over ninety minutes and so entirely consists of the two characters walking and talking, sitting and talking, drinking coffee in bohemian cafes and talking� It may sound very boring, but it was against all odds thoroughly entertaining and completely captivating. Whether they�re talking about the night, or their lives since then, or their lives before then, it�s all extremely watchable.
Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke are extremely natural in their roles. They co-wrote the script with director Richard Linklater this time around, so that must have helped, but they do have such natural chemistry that no matter what it just keeps the film going. It�s very strange, like it�s the most relaxing movie ever but also enthralling and funny and emotionally rich.
It�s also hard to believe that Linklater�s last film was School of Rock. That was a loud, brash, comic movie that appealed to everyone, while this is much slower and almost, at times, plotless. The conclusion is, of course, that Linklater rules.
Speaking of plot, that�s almost what gets in the way in Before Sunset, strangely enough. It�s so easy to watch these two talk that when an event or a revelation of truth or emotion comes out, you almost want to get back to when the characters were just talking like old friends. It�s like the opposite of so many movies! I don�t know why it works, but it just does. Brilliantly. And the fact that plot occasionally happens can�t, in all fairness, be held against it.
There�s not really a lot more to say, other than that Julie Delpy has a really good singing voice. So, basically, you don�t need to see Before Sunrise to see Before Sunset- you just need to see Before Sunset.
