User reviews

"Before Sunrise" was one of the most beautiful independent love stories of the 90's. Part of its appeal came from the open ending. We didn't know how the lives of these two young people would continue and what would become of them. The whole movie was like a snapshot that left the rest to our imagination. A sequel to such a story seemed to be unnecessary, but apparently director Richard Linklater himself couldn't stop thinking about these two intriguing characters and had to envision their lives after this one fateful day in Vienna.

Here it is now, the most unlikely sequel I have ever seen, "Before Sunset" - made not for money but for pure artistic purpose only. Much of the magic of part one could have been destroyed, but somehow Linklater and his two main actors managed to pull it off. "Before Sunset" takes place nine years after Jesse and Celine first met and as soon as the movie starts you feel like you meet old friends you haven't seen in a long time. You know these people and immediately feel at home with them. I was afraid that "Before Sunset" might give answers to questions that shouldn't be answered in the first place. If "Before Sunrise" was a dream that two young people had, then this movie could only be the rude awakening, the confrontation with reality. And somehow it is just that. It's a bit disillusioning to hear that all did not turn out as well as one might have imagined. We learn that Jesse and Celine are not particularly happy in their lives and that they are not really the romantic persons they used to be nine years ago. The soothing thing to see, however, is that they are still here. They both have passed their 30th birthday, they have jobs and their future is more or less decided, but they're still longing for passion in their lives and as soon as they meet each other, it's there again. They might have given up a lot of their dreams and beliefs but one thing remains true: their feelings for each other. While they're talking it's like they turn back time and become the young, hopeful people they once were again. I'm getting a bit carried away, but that's the beauty of these two movies, "Sunrise" and "Sunset". The story sucks you in and you're not able to stop thinking about it for a long while.

Another thing "Before Sunset" did, it made me reflect on my own life. How have I changed in the past nine years? What has become of my dreams? Obviously, I have gotten more cynical, because at times I was irritated by Celine's talk about environmental problems and her emotional outbursts. It took me way longer than last time to "bond" with her character this time around.

Anyway, the performances by Hawke and Delpy are wonderful once again. Their acting is as natural as can be, and thinking of Hawke's recent divorce in real life you wonder how much of his character in the movie is based on his own personal experiences.

Unfortunately, the movie is over way too soon. After about an hour you have already arrived at the final scene - a scene that is just amazing. It makes you hope that somehow everything will work out for Jesse and Celine and that maybe they will stay together this time. As part one, "Before Sunset" doesn't have a definite ending, though.

It's sure nice to see that apparently Linklater cares about Jesse and Celine as much as I do and made such a good sequel. He could probably even make a third part. "Before Sunset" has convinced me that it could work.

I'm a movie lover. That first thing said, i have to recognize that i'm really hard on movies, and i usually discard many of them for being under-prepared, for so many errors and things like that. But with "Before Sunset" i felt different. We all know movies are just fakes: what happens, what we see is not the real life. It's just a construction. It's just somebody imagination becoming a visual media. But when i was watching this movie, i didn't felt that. I was seeing real people, with real problems and having thoughts, and fears and hopes. It's the most real acting i ever saw. All about it is just perfect: the ambiance, the set, the city, even the apartment we can see at the near end. Every piece of the movie was connected, and you can tell a whole story about the characters just for hear them, or seeing the way they talk, the things they said, the music they chooses or the things they have. In that way of thinking, i found this movie inspirational, a well-made piece of life, and incredibly deep and wide film. I think this is a portrait of life as only a few can know, of all the shadows and lights we all share.

So, i really recommend it, even if you didn't saw the first one.

...is that it ends. This is a fantastic film. It joins the handful of movies where I think I liked the sequel even more than the original, although I liked 'Before Sunrise' as well. Where Sunrise captured the immediacy and urgency of perfect youthful love, Sunset reflects beautifully on the aftermath of that perfection. I remember a line that says "nothing that is complete breathes", and I think that is what we see in this film. A perfect connection with another human is a blessing and a curse; having experienced perfection a part of us stops breathing, unable or unwilling to mar the perfection of that memory.

The dialogue is amazing, the acting is spot-on; this is a great film. In some ways it felt more like reading a great novel than watching a movie, in that I really felt like I knew the characters and was sad the movie had to end. Kind of like saying goodbye to an old friend. If you are an action movie kind of person, skip this flick because it will bore you to tears. If, on the other hand, you like good dialogue, well formed characters, and aren't quite jaded enough to have given up completely on the idea of true love, don't miss this film.

I'd been longing to see this one as I'd always thought 'Before Sunrise' was one of the most honest, most real films I'd ever seen, but at the same time I held off seeing the sequel from fear of disappointment. For all of you in the same position, fear not ; Linklater, Hawke and Delphy (for it has surely been a joint effort and labour of love for all three) have done us and themselves proud. I've just seen the film and despite being male and 38 I feel like Roberta Flack must have felt when she penned 'Killing me Softly' after hearing Don McLean sing 'Vincent' in concert; this is - once again - just so close to what it's all about. You want technicalities? The acting, superb; Hawke and Delphy slip right back into their characters, their mannerisms, their sometimes gauche repartee, the way they seem to fence around each other, seeming to go in for the kill then feigning, drawing back…Exquisite. And then the details, the echoes of the first film in the settings but now with a world-weariness, an autumnal note and yet with still that fundamental freshness and optimism that revives the memories of Sunrise's youthfulness and reminds us, as our heroes discuss, that though time changes people, there remains an unchanging core. Just see it; this is about as good as it gets, folks.

Before Sunset is one of those movies, you either love, or you hate.

Personally, I loved it.

Now, I recommend watching "Before Sunrise" first, however it isn't necessary. Before Sunset does a good job of reviewing what had happened, therefore if you decide to watch it Before watching "Sunrise" you have nothing to worry about.

Some scenes are extremely well done. The characters are picture perfect, and the movie itself, is breathtaking. The aura of the movie is so spectacular, that it will inspire young directors out there, to pick up their video cameras are start filming.

An 80 minute movie, about two lovable characters and what they have to say, may sound boring. But the way it's done in Before Sunset, will sweep this impression right off your feet.

Julie and Ethan play two of the most honest and true characters I have ever seen, they are known as Jesse and Celine. And while much of the credit must go to the characters themselves, you musn't forget the actor and actress who played them.

Julie is perfect as Celine. The young french actress is so natural in front of the camera. Definitely, has potential.

Ethan is also very very honest, he seems so comfortable character that that you forget your watching a movie, and not a home-made video.

Both play with such honest expression, and such trueness, that they are so natural, Before Sunset becomes no longer a movie. It feels as if you are eavesdropping on two extremely developed people. It's such an intimate environment, that you never want to leave.

Before Sunset... 9.901/10*****

I appreciate the craft of this movie, especially the continuity. It's an objectively good movie. But.. I can't say I enjoyed it that much. The characters seemed written to be realistic - but too much realism made them unrealistic. This was a mentally bumpy ride for me.

Like, did people actually talk like this in 2004, in prose with several random sexual plugs? Their dynamic has tension and chemistry, but what do they see in each other? Jesse is terribly cringy and un-charming, while both self-absorbed and self-deprecating. He had the grace of youth as the excuse in Before Sunrise. I was expecting he would mature in the 9 years before reencountering Celine, but nope! Celine is no saint either, lying directly to Jesse on occasion, but she has more likabilities. But maybe thats what this is all about: two flawed humans fall in lust. An imperfect love forms through space, time, and imagination.

How imagined or pure is the connection with someone you've spent about 24 hours in 10 years with? I guess we'll see in Before Midnight..

I had not seen the prequel to this although my date had and she filled me in on many details. While the experience of this film would be enriched by having seen the preceding film first, it certainly stands satisfactorily alone.

In many ways, this reminded me very much of one of my most favorite movies of all time, "My Dinner with André," in which just 2 characters talking comprised the whole movie. In that movie, the friends had been close, drifted apart, and then had a brief reunion at a dinner at which they caught up with what the other had been doing. The two principals, André Gregory and Wallace Shawn, played themselves and each represented one side of a dialectic, say the side of romanticism vs. a conventional reality. "Before Sunset" is parallel in many ways.

At one level we have a romantic story -- two people who'd briefly been lovers nine years before and lost touch meet again. They spend an afternoon together. Will they try to fulfill what they'd started?

At another level, we have the charm of conversation and exploration, of reminiscing, of gradually feeling out and discovery of how much do I have in common with this person now? -- where has this person been? -- what are they capable of now? -- how much freedom of choice do I have, does this other person have -- to make decisions? Etc.

While Celine and Jesse have a capacity for relating and talking, they also have somewhat opposite ways of viewing the world and relationships -- Celine is more cynical and reserved; Jesse is more open to settling for the "not-perfect-but-good-enough."

There are possibly a few people who have not had the personal experiences that at least somewhat relate to the premise in this film -- a relationship in which one wonders, "what would have happened if I'd pursued that relation?" but probably most people have. And the other dilemma, of meeting again that someone but by now being involved in relationships of responsibility -- my family, my children, my present life. What would it do to them if I were to pursue my own happiness at the expense of them? Can I do that? Can I value the chance of my own happiness above theirs? Etc.

The film, fortunately, gives us no answers to these essential questions but it does pose them in a way that makes us consider them.

Delpy and Hawke are given screenwriter credits and I feel sure that they must've contributed a great deal to the feeling of seamless, natural dialogue.

GREAT movie. No movie satisfies everyone, of course, but at the time I wrote this, slightly over 50% of the voters gave it a 10/10. For those of us in that group, it's a great film.

The dialog is considerably more believable, the characters are deeper, the emotions are stronger and the viewer's connection with the characters is more intense. Ethan Hawke is better, Julie Delpy is better, Richard Linklater is at his best.

It is outstanding to watch both Jesse and Ethan Hawke grow as a normal guy on a quest for happiness and an actor who has improved a lot since the first part, respectively. Julie Delpy's performance left me in awe in scenes where she describes her frustration with her sub-par love life, whereas 10 years ago her lines seemed emotionless and routine. Richard Linklater takes themes he would only touch superficially in the first part, and dives into them in the second part, much like how the characters are more callous and realize they have nothing to lose anymore.

I must admit the first part did not impress me. I was enthralled by the excitement of the young adults' spontaneous romance in Vienna, but it all seemed so dreamy and stereotypical of how love should be. Well, I realize now that this is exactly what it was supposed to be. It was love in every meaning of the word: heightening, inspiring, and painful. It wasn't until I saw Before Sunset that all this dawned on me. The way Jesse and Celine look back at the time they shared 9 years ago, how beautiful their one night was together, how their lives have changed, and they contemplate what could have been, Linklater portrays not only a story of true love, but life in itself and it's never-ending series of ups and downs.

I couldn't help but try to walk in Jesse's shoes in my own life 9 years down the road and wonder if I will make the same decisions. Is it inevitable that you wish you would have done things differently? Will ever I connect with someone the way Jesse and Celine do? Is it fair to measure happiness circumstantially? All these are questions Linklater makes us think about while witnessing a love that just doesn't "fizzle out".

I appreciate Before Sunset for what it is -- a sequel made nine years after the original, set nine years after the original, starring the same two actors and following up on the events of the original -- but that does not mean I liked it. The conversations in this film were not as interesting as the first movie, and I did not want the two romantic leads to get together anymore. Yes, it feels very realistic, but who wants to listen to people complain about their life and their marriage for over an hour?

This is simply one of the best movies I've seen, with very few qualifications. Maybe I should say that this is one of the best "simple" movies I've seen. Perhaps it is a bit like cooking, use fresh and quality ingredients and you can make something great without a lot of unnecessary stuff. Unfortunately, Hollywood just doesn't seem to have the ambition to make these type of movies anymore.

In any event, this is one of the few sequels that matches the intensity and integrity of the original. First, it has many simple, yet stylish and honest shots. Perhaps the Scorcese shot is used too much (i.e. following the actors on a long walk without cutting a la Goodfellas kitchen scene), but I don't think so because it makes sense in the context of the movie. Second, many of the shots have interesting emotive effect. For instance, towards the end of the movie, after these "lovers" are fighting the clock (because Ethan Hawke's character needs to catch a flight) and are cruising down the river, they are so engrossed in their conversation and the fact that they are trying to get so much out of the last few minutes they don't notice their ride is coming to an end. However, we the viewer can see what the characters either don't see or don't want to see, that the boat is crossing over the river to its destination and the departure no one wants to deal with. The viewer is given a wonderful sense of dread as the bank approaches in the background, because we know what is going to happen when the ride ends, and like the characters, we don't want it to end either. Even if the film borrows heavily from other great movies (e.g. My Dinner with Andre) it is independent of those influences.

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke were great per usual. Making the dialogue ring true is difficult, but they pull it off. As before, they completely capture the nature of the intimate and friendly conversational style of friends or lovers that is normally edited out of most movies. When people talk, things are not always sequential or rationale, and unlike most movies this movie doesn't try and correct that. Not for a moment does the audience find themselves thinking that this is some sort of charade and no one would ever talk like that. The dialogue is intelligent and insightful, but that is because the characters are intelligent and have a knack for being brutally honest with their thoughts and feelings.

This is movie excellence, and I'm glad some film makers are still trying to make art. Despite the romantic themes this isn't a date flick, so be prepare to deal with the difficult and often unresolved issues of love and relationships that arise.

Nine years on Celine and Jessie meet in Paris not entirely by destiny or sheer force of circumstance... Nine years ago I loved Before Sunrise so much! And identified with it even though I was far from home not out of choice - and a war of the kind that bothered Celine in Bosnia was going on in my own country... But I was young. I was 24, actually, very romantic and innocent. Now I Know how things work a little better. The world, relationships. But I'm still plunging into causes for their own sake. And I'm still a reasonably normal person. Just like the characters in this film. Paris has never looked simpler in its casual elegance. Dialogue has never seemed more natural. A script never touched real life like this one so effortlessly. I'm in love with these characters - and with the ending... This is how European Cinema used to be - and Hollywood, too for that matter. Naturally real and magical in the details.

A sequel to the 1995 film "Before Sunrise". Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) meet 9 years after their initial meeting. They've changed--originally they were in their 20s and full of idealism. Now they're in their 30s--and their lives have changed in ways they didn't predict. Like the first movie they walk around Paris this time and talk about love, life, reality, what might have been--and it's all fascinating. Like the first film this is basically a character study and (like the first) just incredible. It's like catching up with old friends after 9 years apart! They've aged a lot--Hawke looks TERRIBLE but Delpy looks OK--and life has thrown both a few hard knocks but hearing how they survived and what they went through is just incredible. This is NOT for everybody (four people walked out when I went to see it) but, for people who can deal with nonstop talk for 80 minutes it is just great. Every single line rings true and is delivered full force by Hawke and Delpy. The acting varies--Hawke is good (but he smiles WAY too much)--Delpy is just superb all the way through. This is easily one of the best films of 2004. Highly recommended.

I saw this movie with my husband. He is usually a die-hard fan of action thrillers, special effects and horror movies but he allows me to coax him into seeing a really thoughtful movie every once in a while. So this was my choice for the evening. Neither one of us had seen the first movie, "Before Sunrise", although I knew of it by reputation. Well, my husband absolutely loved the movie! He sat up and became totally engrossed in the story, frequently patting my hand at intervals as he identified with the the characters in the story. He forgot about the dreadful uncomfortable movie seat. He let up a big sigh of disappointment when the credits came up... Personally, I grew up in Paris, France, I came to the US for graduate studies and I had an environmental protection career for 20 years. So I could strongly identify with Celine, a young woman of French origin with a patina of US graduate schooling and a career in environmental protection work. Her vulnerability shines through her modern chatterbox exterior. The acting is absolutely superb, with the intimate extended conversations drawing us into the characters' lives. Certainly, this movie can stand on its own. For Jesse and Celine, the opportunity to pick up once more their romantic relationship is here! A smart couple would not let the moment pass. I doubt that they would just have a quick passionate affair... I think that the characters already know how lonely their souls can be without true love and commitment and they are emotionally ready to grasp this chance of a lifetime. They have been around long enough to know how rare their type of romantic feeling and connection can be. They will cherish their unique relationship and nurture it forever. My husband and I agreed that the movie could only be watched by couples of "a certain age", rather than young couples still searching for life's meaning. Only people who have lived through the throes of searching for a lifelong mate, then living through the disappointments and joys of struggling relationships, can recognize and appreciate what true love is and how important it is to go with one's heart and seize the moment.

I am 48 years old and have a wonderful romantic relationship with my husband. We are each other's first and only love. Even so, we have worked very hard to keep our marriage alive and mutually passionate. Over the past 25-30 years, both of us have noticed that satisfying relationships are very difficult once people hit their thirties and forties. We have noticed that many older couples never work out their differences and end up bitter and disappointed with life. Many acquaintances of our generation are divorced or still single, never having experienced the sweetness and stability of a true romantic and committed relationship. Romance can be found all the time, from fleeting moments to short-term relationships. One sees it all over the place nowadays, in TV shows and movies, as well as in most modern relationships. However, I would like to emphasize the lasting contentment that a loving commitment brings to one's soul. This is a rare and unique blessing that is missing from too many relationships nowadays, and I find this immeasurably sad. This is a classic movie (excellent story line and top of the line acting) which goes into my list of top romantic movies of all times.

In Richard Linklater's charming Before Sunset, the highly praised sequel to his 1995 film Before Sunrise, Jesse (Ethan Hawke), now married with a four-year old son, is in Paris on the last leg of a book tour. Celine (Julie Delpy), his partner from a short-lived romance nine years ago, shows up at a roundtable for his book signing and they pick up almost immediately where they left off. Jesse has eighty minutes before he has to leave to catch his plane and that is how long the movie lasts. They go for coffee and take a walk through Paris. They talk and talk, then talk some more. Without pausing to take a breath, as if fearful of a moment of silence, they engage in non-stop conversation about the world situation, the element of chance in their lives, the environment, relationships between men and women, and their memories of what actually occurred in Vienna.

Celine talks about how unfulfilling her life has been and there is a sad undertone of remorse and regret for the things that might have been. Jesse complains about his unrewarding marriage but does not take responsibility for his lack of satisfaction or consider the commitments he made to his wife and son. In a strange sequence in a restaurant, they both light up cigarettes and blow smoke in each other's faces, a scene that is incongruous in light of Celine's passion for the environment. Does Linklater want to send a message to young viewers that smoking is romantic? One would have thought that in the intervening years, Mr. Linklater's characters would have acquired a reasonable degree of emotional maturity but such is not the case and all the sexual banter and philosophical posturing feels sophomoric.

Comparisons have been made to another film that consisted mainly of conversation, My Dinner with André. That film was not only intellectually stimulating but emotionally satisfying, an experience that allowed us in the space of two hours to re-explore our own lives and rethink the way we see the universe. Before Sunset is not in the same league. Some are calling it "breathless", "sweet", "smart", and "one of the supreme movie romances of the post-'80s era", but to me it falls far short of those accolades. It is a well directed and well acted film with great picture-postcard shots of Paris (that carefully avoids the congestion and urban blight), some witty dialogue, and a very clever ending. What it lacks is an ability to communicate the unfathomable grace of love in a way that transcends banality.

This follow-up to the cult hit 'Before Sunrise' takes place nine years after the original masterpiece. The wisdom of making a sequel nine years later to a film that doesn't really need a sequel is questionable. Or at least it would be, if this film was anything less than brilliant. While the first film depicted an energetic and youthful romance between two young people; this sequel is a more mature tale, all about reflection. Before Sunset plays out almost as a tribute to the one night that the characters spent together in the first film, and analyses what happened to them after those events. The film takes in themes of missed opportunity and the effect that time has on character. Just like the first film, time is of the essence again and we follow Jesse, now the writer of an international best seller who meets up with Celine again, this time in Paris. The two take to the streets and begin discussing their relationship with each other, with their respective partners and how life has been treating them in the last nine years.

The tone of this film is very different to 'Before Sunrise' as the characters are now older and wiser and have lost some of that reckless stupidity that made the first film such a delight to observe. The anecdotes that the characters profess to one another takes a worldlier stance, and this allows the characters to revel in their newfound maturity and also develop even further than they did in the original film. In my opinion, this sequel is not as great as the first film. It comes down to personal preference in the end, but I preferred the higher energy exchanges of Before Sunrise to the more mature reflections in this film. That's not to say that Celine and Jesse have completely matured into well-rounded adults, on the contrary in fact; the immature irresponsibility that the characters once revelled in still remains, and this comes to a head at the film's conclusion.

Amazingly enough, in spite of the fact that it's nine years since their first outing as Celine and Jesse; both Ethan Hawke and Julie Deply have managed to step back into their characters, and have once again achieved a glove-like fit. Julie Deply in particular is incredible this time round. There's a scene in the back of a car when she explodes into a mass of insecurity that is one of the most heartfelt showings of releasing pent-up emotions that I've ever seen on screen. Paris provides a new setting for the characters to walk around, and it makes for one that is even better than Vienna was in Before Sunrise. The city is beautiful, that's elementary, but it's the way that Linklater captures the life going on around our characters that really makes it special. While the two talk, people chat away on mobile phones, walk their dogs and drive their cars and the life around the two characters creates a wonderful atmosphere.

You really need to see Before Sunrise before seeing this follow up in order to appreciate the tones and the beauty of this picture. Of course, you need to see both films anyway as they're essential viewing; so what are you waiting for?

I have seen the Before trilogy in the wrong order. Before Sunrise saw Jesse and Celine as two young travellers who meet on a train during a trip to Vienna and bond. They exchange little details about themselves and agree to meet up at the same place on a particular date.

Before Midnight released in 2013 is set almost 20 years after they have first met. They are now married, vacationing in Greece and have entered middle life and their relationships now show some cracks.

Before Sunset is therefore the filling of the sandwich. After 9 years, Jesse is travelling in Europe as part of a book tour. He again encounters Celine who has come looking for him in a Paris bookshop.

We find out that Jesse did turn up in Vienna but Celine could not has it was her grandmother's funeral. That event has somehow thrown both their fate in a different direction.

Older, wiser, with both having a career established. They still have much to look forward to but there is also now past regrets. Celine has had relationship failures and Jesse is married with a child but its not a happy marriage. Its clear that both carry a torch for each other and their initial encounter left deep marks.

The rest of the film is the couple walking in Paris or on a boat on the River Seine. We get to know a bit more about these characters as they fill the gap in between the years we last saw them.

Its clear that Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke have a nice chemistry and comfortable with each other. They look like long lost lovers and of course they co-wrote the screenplay. Just look at Jesse's face when he finds out that Celine had lived in New York and worse he was also there at the same time.

I do think that director Richard Linklater could had done more to show the beauty of Paris and to be honest the touristic element of Paris apart from Notre Dame. I have walked a similar route and taken a boat ride on the River Seine and the film could had done with the picture postcard scenes to break up the monotony of these two people walking and talking. Its kind of natural for Jesse who is after all a visitor to the city.

The conversation is interesting but not riveting. Its natural but does not flow again because the screenplay wants to unwrap its layers slowly and methodically.

Jesse is on a tight schedule as he has a plane to catch but its clear he does not want to leave her. We now know that there is more to their story and shall re-visit them again.

A truly gag-worthy inside look at the juvenile, self-serving world view which motivates Hollywood writers and producers. Ethan Hawke was physically unappealing (can't he get his teeth fixed?!), his character narcissistic beyond belief. Julie Delpy is so busy trying to be charming as her character tells Jesse about all the wonderfully righteous things she has been doing to save the planet from all the bad actors in the world who are polluting everything, while she and Jesse puff away on their ciggies. Hello? The first few minutes of interviewing Ethan Hawke's character were laughable. I simply couldn't buy the idea that any person this inarticulate could have written a novel considered a worthwhile piece of literature. Jesse (Hawke) sounds like a bumbling 19 year old college sophomore. After 30 minutes of this disgusting drivel, I decided to preserve my stomach and eject the disc.

What really sickens me is the distorted view of reality depicted by these characters, who are obviously well thought of by the author and movie-makers. The way in which Celine and Jesse view the world is the view of spoiled Westerners who have no actual clue of reality, and criticize everyone else from their safe bubbles. Aside from the token concern for polluters, aren't they essentially mainly concerned with their own gratification?