Before Sunset

They were in love 9 years ago. They meet again and fall in love again, only this time taking you alongwith them. A sequel of the movie Before Sunrise. The setting is in the City of Lights, Paris. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Deply) couldn't meet on the planned day, they meet 9 years later at a speaking in Paris. Jesse goes on to write a book about their one night romance in Vienna and Celine comes to meet him at his book opening in the city. Hawke plays a character of a guy in a failed marriage and Julie play a woman who has lost all hope in love. In a short 80 minutes movie the first half of the movie is funny innocent romance, later they begin to unburden themselves, ruing their decisions of not exchanging contacts and not able to meet up. They explore all their feeling about each other. They realize they are perfect for each other in the second stroll they take together around another city. A completely romantic movie and a must see for all die hard romantic people around the world.

Whereas Sunrise was youthful romance, this movie has more maturity in the characters (of course they have aged). Julie again steal the show with her accent and energy. We can see that Celine is fidgety at the start of the movie, speaking hysterically. Later when she unburdens herself we see the reason, she isn't happy with her life. Jesse's sexual advances seem innocent and pure. Similar to it's earlier version 90% of the movie is just conversation of two people (this time in love already). In contrast to Sunrise which takes place mostly during night, this story takes place mostly in the afternoon. The story flows smoothly and there is a gradual increase in the seriousness of the movie as the time passes by and they start revealing their feelings from the ferry ride to the car drive. There are many places that we can doubt about how much true Celine is, like about her grandmother's death, her boyfriend. But then thiswould just spoil the mood of the movie, we just hope that all the stuff in the movie was in fact true. Throughout this movie too Jesse's flight is a bother but the end is so smooth, light and peaceful with just the dialogs "C:Maybe... you are... gonna - miss - that - plane! J:I know..." and the picture fades. 2 people knowing so less about one another and yet knowing the other person completely. The chemistry is smooth and the intensity keeps on growing and as you sink deeper into the chair they sink deeper into the ocean of love. The acting again scores over everything else though one can easily recall a few cool/nice dialogs from the movie and scenes. No wonder it got so many nominations and awards for screenplay and story.

We feel like watching a home-made video the acting comes so naturally to these two characters. This movie scores over it's previous version in all aspects even acting, which was of par class in Sunrise. One can go on about the little details of the movie, the crux however is Before Sunset is a unique love story of 2 mature people who have had their share of mistakes, shortcomings, problems and responsibilities and an almost open ending (We can all easily guess the ending but still let us call it open end since we can't be 100% sure) give us hope that they will come out with it together leaving their previous responsibilities and love will (may) prevail in their case.

SCENES:This movie does better than the prequel at scenes. The most noteworthy scenes were

• The ferry ride, we get to know that both of them are frustrated and lonely in their life.
• The scene in the car where they both unburden their sorrows of life. It is a very energetic and fast scene.
• The waltz by Celine
  

QUOTES:This movie does better again at dialogs than its prequel. Though still being predominated by the acting of 2 class actors, some dialogs steal the show. In this movie the dialogs are not just romantic, they are dramatic, romantic, sad, depressing, funny at times. Though some were fascinating, but for most of them and the big ones I had to refer the .srt file.

Reporter:Do you consider the book to be autobiographical?
J:Well, I mean, is anything autobiographical? We all see the world through our own tiny keyhole, right? So when I look at my own life, you know, I have to admit, right...that I've... I've never been around a bunch of guns, or violence. You know, not really. No political intrigue or... helicopter crash, right? But my life, from my own point of view, has been full of drama, right?

C:Did you show up in Vienna, that December?
J:Uh, did you?
C:No, I couldn't, but... Did you? I need to know, it's important to me!
J:Why, if you didn't?
C:Well, did you?
J:No.

C:(hysterically)You weren't there anyway... Why? Why weren't you there? I would have been there if I could have, I made plans, and we... You better have a good reason! What? (Realises he was there) Oh, no! No, you were there, weren't you? (He shakes his head to indicate yes)

J:I wrote this whole fictional version in which you actually do show up.
C:Oh, what happens?
J:Uhm...
C:What?
J:Uhm, we make love for about ten days straight, that's one part of it.
C:Oh, that's interesting. So, the French slut...
J:Yeah
C:Ok, ok...
J:It's just, then they, you know, they start to know each other better and they realize that they don't get along at all.
C:I like that. It's more real.

J:Ok, I realize that there are a lot of serious problems in the world.
C:Ok, thank you!
J:I mean, I don't even have one publisher in the whole Asian market.
C:Ok, all right. Say "stop it"! (Moving her fingers very fast)
J:What, what? "Stop". (She shows him the middle finger)

J:When I was younger... I was healthier, but I was racked with insecurity. Now I'm older, my problems are deeper, but I'm... more equipped to handle them.

J:You... You were living in the US?
C:Yes, from... '96 to '99. I was studying at NYU.
J:Oh, God, don't tell me that, Celine!
C:What?
J:No, it's just... Nothing, I mean I...
C:What?
J:I've been living in New York since '98.

C:Do I look any different? I do?
J:I'd have to see you naked.

J:Skinnier, I think, more thinner.
C:Did you think I was fat before?
J:No.
C:Yeah, you thought I was a fatty. No, you thought I was a fatty... You wrote a book about a fat French girl!
(She says it so innocently, that you are really bumped)

C:I had this funny... well, horrible dream the other day. I was having this awful nightmare, that I was 32, and then I woke up, and I was 23! So relieved... And then I woke up for real, and I was 32.

C:I see the people that do the real work and what's really sad, the people that are the most giving, hard working and capable of making this world better, usually don't have the ego and ambition to be a leader. They don't see the interest in superficial rewards, they don't care if their name ever appear in the press, they actually enjoy the process of helping others, they're in the moment!

J:I even remember what brand of condom we used.
C:Okay, that's disgusting. I don't want to hear it!

C:Memory is a wonderful thing, if you don't have to... deal with the past.

C:There's an Einstein quote I really, really like. He said: "If you don't believe in any kind of magic, or mystery, basically, (you're) as good as dead."

C:It's amazing what... perverts we've become in the past 9 years.
J:I know, I know. Well, at least now we don't have to pretend that each new sexual experience is like a life altering event.
C:I know, by now, you know you've stuck it in so many places, it's like, about to fall off.
J:I mean, you know, I can't realistically expect you to have become anything but a total hole, at this point.
C:Yeah, thank you.

J:I heard this story once, about when the... the Germans were occupying Paris and they had to retreat back, they wired Notre Dame to blow. But they had to... they had to leave one guy in charge of hitting the switch. And the guy, the soldier, he... he couldn't do it! You know, he just sat there, knocked out by how beautiful the place was. And then, when the allied troops came in, they found all the explosives just lying there... and the switch unturned. And they found the same thing at... Saicre Coeur... Eiffel Tower... a couple of other places, I think.

J:You wanna know why I wrote that stupid book?
C:Why?
J:So that you might come to a reading in Paris, and I go walk up to you and ask: "Where the fuck were you?"

J:Oh, God, why didn't we exchange phone numbers and stuff? Why didn't we do that?
C:Because we were young and stupid?
J:You think we still are?
C:I guess when you're young... you just believe... there'll be many people with whom you'll connect with. Later in life you only realize it only happens a few times.

J:In the months leading up to my wedding, ok, I was thinking about you, all the time. I mean, even on my way there... I'm in the car, and a buddy of mine is driving me downtown, and I'm staring at the window... and I think I see you. Not far from the church, right. Folding up an umbrella, and walking into a deli, on the corner of... 13th and Broadway. And I thought I was going crazy, you know? But now I think it probably was you...
C:I lived on 11th and Broadway.
J:You see.

J:But I do, I feel like if somebody were to touch me, you know, I would dissolve into molecules.

C: you think you would you would have finished your book, if... if you were fucking somebody every 5 minutes?
J:I might have welcomed the challenge...

C:I was thinking... For me it's better I don't romanticize things as much anymore. I was suffering so much all the time. I still have lots of dreams, but they're not in regard to my love life. It doesn't make me sad, it's just the way it is.
J:Is that why you're in a relationship with somebody who's... never around?

C:It's not so easy for me to be a romantic. You start off that way, and, after you've been screwed over a few times... You... you forget about all your delusional ideas, and you just take what comes into your life.

C:You know... it's not even that, I was... I was fine. Until I read your fucking book! It stirred shit out from you, It reminded me how... genuinely romantic I was, how I had so much hope in things and... now it's like... I don't believe in anything that relates to love, I don't feel things for people anymore. In a way... I put all my romanticism into that one night and I was never able to feel all this again. Like... somehow this night took things away from me and... I expressed them to you and you took them with you! It made me feel cold, like if love wasn't for me!

C:Reality and love are almost contradictory for me. It's funny... Every single of my ex-es... they're now married! Men go out with me, we break up, and then they get married! And later they call me to thank me for teaching them what love is, and... that I taught them to care and respect women!
J:I think I'm one of those guys.
C:(hysterically again)You know, I want to kill them! Why didn't they ask me to marry them? I would have said "No", but at least they could have asked!!! But it's my fault, I know that it's my fault, because... I never felt it was the right man. Never! But what does it mean the right man? The love of your life? The concept is absurd, the idea that we can only be complete with another person is... EVIL! Right?
J:Can I talk?
C:You know, I guess I've been heart broken too many times. And then I recovered. So now, you know, form the starts, I make no effort. Because I know exactly what hap...
J:You can't do that. You can't do that, you can't live your life trying to avoid pain, at the expense of en...
C:Ok, you know what? Loose our words! I've gotta... I've gotta get away from you... Stop the car, I want to get out!
J:No, no, no, don't... don't get out...
C:You know, it's being around you...
J:Keep talking...
C:Don't touch me! You know, I wanna get on a cab...

J:You... you say all that, but you didn't even remember having sex. So...
C:Of course I remember it...
J:You did?
C:Yes! Women pretend things like that.
J:They do?
C:Yeah, what was I supposed to say? That I remember the wine in the park, and... us looking about the stars fading away as the sun came up! We had sex twice, you idiot!

J:I have these dreams, you know, that... I'm standing on a platform, and... you keep going by on a train, and... you go by, and you go by, and you go by, and I wake up with the fucking sweats, you know? And then I have this other dream, oh... where you're... pregnant, in bed, beside me, naked, and I want so badly to touch you, but you tell me not to, and then you look away. And... and I... I... I touch you anyway, right on your ankle, and your skin is so soft, and I wake up in sobs, all right?

C:Wanna see if you stay together or if you dissolve into molecules...
J:How am I doing?
C:Still here.
J:Good, I like being here.

Celine: [Celine's song] Let me sing you a waltz / Out of nowhere, out of my thoughts / Let me sing you a waltz / About this one night stand / You were, for me, that night / Everything I always dreamt of in life / But now you're gone / You are far gone / All the way to your island of rain / It was for you just a one night thing / But you were much more to me, just so you know / I don't care what they say / I know what you meant for me that day / I just want another try, I just want another night / Even if it doesn't seem quite right / You meant for me much more than anyone I've met before / One single night with you, little Jesse, is worth a thousand with anybody / I have no bitterness, my sweet / I'll never forget this one night thing / Even tomorrow in other arms, my heart will stay yours until I die / Let me sing you a waltz / Out of nowhere, out of my blues / Let me sing you a waltz / About this lovely one night stand

C:Maybe... you are... gonna - miss - that - plane!
J:I know...

TRIVIA(Picked from the net):Shooting took a mere 15 days. Hawke's character Jesse is in a failing marriage with a woman he married because she had become pregnant. Soon after the film's release, Hawke divorced his real-life wife, Uma thruman, whom he had married while she was pregnant with their first child.

P.S. - I saw this movie late evening while the sun was just setting. Such a nice coincidence to watch both the movies as their names suggest they should be watched.