After their one night together, nine years before, Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) haven't seen each other. Until, that is, Jesse writes a book about their experience. Hearing about it, Celine tracks him down to his final book-signing, coincidentally at her favourite bookstore in Paris where she now lives.
With time to kill until Jesse needs to catch his plane, the two decide to walk through Paris, as they did in Vienna almost a decade before.
Hawke and Delpy reprise their characters from nine years before. Jesse, the American, who was once a wandering romantic, has grown into a family man. Married, with a four year old son, he appears to have hung up his leather jacket and turned into a homemaker. However, throughout his conversation with Celine, it becomes clear that he isn't happy; After losing Celine, and various other events, he decided that since romance hadn't worked, and since his girlfriend was pregnant, he should maybe try the settling down thing. It doesn't seem to be working out for him.
Celine's gone almost the same way, turning into a serial monogamist. Although she doesn't seem particularly enamoured with her current boyfriend, she claims she loves him.
The two characters begin talking politely, as old friends. This soon deepens into something resembling their relationship in the previous film, changed slightly by their differing ages and experiences. They walk, and talk as they did before, and talk about what's happened since they last met.
Their relationship shifts again, however, as they talk more, and begin to admit what each other meant, despite the little interaction their two lives have had. It soon becomes apparent that they've been closer than they thought - for several years, they lived in the same city, streets away from each other. Jesse tells Celine that he thought he saw her on his wedding day - a quick recap of their varying locations reveals that it may well have been her.
In many ways, the film's about second chances, and how little things can change the course of someones life. It also seems to be about how, if somethings meant to be, it's meant to be, although that might just be my romantic interpretation.
Plotwise, not much happens in the film. The two characters walk and talk, for the hour and half or so that the film lasts. The time which passes onscreen is almost identical to that which passes off-screen - in other words, the action takes place in real time.
The important events aren't in what happens in the film, but in what happens within the own characters mind. At the beginning, Jesse was hoping to see Celine, to see what would happen, perhaps. He admits that he often thought that, if they had managed to meet, his whole life could have been different. Celine is more guarded than he is, but when she drops that guard and starts to think about how, maybe her life could be different, it's a dramatic change.
In short, once more, the important part of the film is in the relationship between the characters, and once again Hawke and Delpy play their parts to perfection. Hawke and Delpy are credited, along with director Richard Linklater as scriptwriters, which implies, as suspected, that they ad-libbed much of their conversation.
This film also takes place nine years from the prequel, in time passed onscreen and off. The actors have aged naturally, and, to be honest, it's a little disappointing how quickly Ethan Hawke aged. He's not unattractive, don't get me wrong - I just preferred him when he was in his early twenties, with that sexy jacket. Delpy still looks just as gorgeous as ever, though.
Paris is a beautiful city - the characters comment on the architecture, at one point - although it isn't used much in this film. It makes a nice backdrop to the plot, though.
In summary, although Before Sunset can drag a little at times, the whole thing passes much faster than you'd think, almost like a real conversation with a loved one. If the cliff-hanger ending of Sunrise drove you crazy, then this film more than makes up for it.
Showing posts with label Before Sunrise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Before Sunrise. Show all posts
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Before Sunrise
On a train in Europe, Jesse (Ethan Hawke), an American who is about to catch the plane from Vienna back to America the next day, and Celine (Julie Delpy), a Parisian who is returning home after visiting her grandmother, meet and begin talking.
As the train nears Vienna, Jesse and Celine prepare to say goodbye. However, at the last minute, Jesse returns, and, implores Celine to get off the train with him. Explaining that his plane doesn't leave until the following morning, and that he can't afford a hotel, and merely planned to walk around all night, he tells her that he feels they have a strong connection and the time would pass much quicker if he could talk to her, and get to know her more. Feeling the same, Celine agrees, and the two spend the night walking around Vienna, discussing everything and anything. Knowing that they must part in the morning, they reveal more of themselves than they usually would.
Essentially, this is the entire plot of the film. Due to the short time frame - the film spans maybe nine hours total, at least four hours of which the characters spend asleep - every little gesture and word is magnified. Every phrase the characters utter has a purpose - to show their developing relationship, and to give insight into their backgrounds.
Jesse, the American, is dark-haired, blue-eyed and, really, astonishingly good-looking. He's fairly open to new experiences, which is obvious because without that trait the film wouldn't have begun. He later explains that his mother and father had a lot of troubles in their relationship, and that he's been told he was an accident. Celine sympathizes, but he then goes on to explain that this makes him feel free - the fact that he isn't meant to exist, in a way, means he can do anything he wants; the world is full of possibilities.
In many ways, Jesse comes across as a cynic, while Celine is more likely to believe the best of people. This is particularly obvious when they meet a palm-reader, and in the scene where a wandering poet tells them to give him a random word; he'll fit it into a poem, and if they like it, they can pay what they think it's worth. Celine loves the poem, but Jesse feels compelled to point out that, in his opinion, the poet probably had one or two stock poems, into which he fitted the required word, rather than writing each one as an original. However, he soon drops the subject, and allows Celine to have her delight in it.
It soon becomes apparent that at heart, Jesse is a romantic, but he's been hurt - or rather not hurt, nothing so dramatic; more let down - by events and people in his past, to such an extent that he's built up a cynical shell. However, he's still brave enough to put himself out there and take chances (as becomes apparent in the sequel, which I'll try to avoid mentioning from now on).
Celine, the blond Parisian looks, as Jesse observes, rather stunningly like a Boticelli angel. She's not as cynical as Jesse, and comes across as more spiritual. At one point, she shows him a graveyard in Vienna, where all the bodies found in the river end up; specifically she shows him the grave of a young girl, Elizabeth, who died at age thirteen. When Celine first saw the grave, she was also thirteen, and that struck a chord with her.
Celine's also a little more kooky than Jesse - she inspires a game where they each pretend to phone a friend to tell them about this strange person they met on a train.
The relationship between the two characters is what really makes the story grow, and the two actors play their parts amazingly well. The on-screen chemistry between them is amazing - all the tiny little gestures, and words. The dialogue in the film seems almost ad-libbed, it's so easy and natural. The image of these two people getting to know each other seems entirely plausible, and so believable. There's one scene, near the beginning, where the two characters are in a booth in a record store, listening to a song. It's about love, and although neither says anything, you can see in their movements and glances that they are both thinking about their feelings, and the lyrics to the song. They're both pretending that they're not thinking that the song is about them, and the awkwardness of their actions only make the scene more realistic and sweet.
The film is very focused on the two lead characters, and the camera angles and amount of close-ups used reflect that. Although the dialogue is important to the film, the moments of silence, where thoughts are shown through gestures alone are really effective. The amounts of other languages used in the film - for instance, the first words are in German - make it feel really European, and again add to the realism. These phrases aren't translated, which puts us in Jesse's shoes, almost - he only speaks English.
In summary, the film is definitely unusual. The characters are sweet and endearing, and you really want their relationship to end well. The film ends on a cliff hanger, and although the nine year wait for a sequel must have frustrated quite a few people, watching it in retrospective means I can see the sequel immediately, as I certainly plan to after watching this.
All in all, it's a film about love, and about people, and I'm afraid, if you're not interested in those subjects you won't like it. Although parts of it steal from cliches, that only makes it better. Before Sunrise is one of very few films to be rated 100% fresh on popular review site, Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, no-one has ever reviewed it badly, a fact that speaks for itself.
As the train nears Vienna, Jesse and Celine prepare to say goodbye. However, at the last minute, Jesse returns, and, implores Celine to get off the train with him. Explaining that his plane doesn't leave until the following morning, and that he can't afford a hotel, and merely planned to walk around all night, he tells her that he feels they have a strong connection and the time would pass much quicker if he could talk to her, and get to know her more. Feeling the same, Celine agrees, and the two spend the night walking around Vienna, discussing everything and anything. Knowing that they must part in the morning, they reveal more of themselves than they usually would.
Essentially, this is the entire plot of the film. Due to the short time frame - the film spans maybe nine hours total, at least four hours of which the characters spend asleep - every little gesture and word is magnified. Every phrase the characters utter has a purpose - to show their developing relationship, and to give insight into their backgrounds.
Jesse, the American, is dark-haired, blue-eyed and, really, astonishingly good-looking. He's fairly open to new experiences, which is obvious because without that trait the film wouldn't have begun. He later explains that his mother and father had a lot of troubles in their relationship, and that he's been told he was an accident. Celine sympathizes, but he then goes on to explain that this makes him feel free - the fact that he isn't meant to exist, in a way, means he can do anything he wants; the world is full of possibilities.
In many ways, Jesse comes across as a cynic, while Celine is more likely to believe the best of people. This is particularly obvious when they meet a palm-reader, and in the scene where a wandering poet tells them to give him a random word; he'll fit it into a poem, and if they like it, they can pay what they think it's worth. Celine loves the poem, but Jesse feels compelled to point out that, in his opinion, the poet probably had one or two stock poems, into which he fitted the required word, rather than writing each one as an original. However, he soon drops the subject, and allows Celine to have her delight in it.
It soon becomes apparent that at heart, Jesse is a romantic, but he's been hurt - or rather not hurt, nothing so dramatic; more let down - by events and people in his past, to such an extent that he's built up a cynical shell. However, he's still brave enough to put himself out there and take chances (as becomes apparent in the sequel, which I'll try to avoid mentioning from now on).
Celine, the blond Parisian looks, as Jesse observes, rather stunningly like a Boticelli angel. She's not as cynical as Jesse, and comes across as more spiritual. At one point, she shows him a graveyard in Vienna, where all the bodies found in the river end up; specifically she shows him the grave of a young girl, Elizabeth, who died at age thirteen. When Celine first saw the grave, she was also thirteen, and that struck a chord with her.
Celine's also a little more kooky than Jesse - she inspires a game where they each pretend to phone a friend to tell them about this strange person they met on a train.
The relationship between the two characters is what really makes the story grow, and the two actors play their parts amazingly well. The on-screen chemistry between them is amazing - all the tiny little gestures, and words. The dialogue in the film seems almost ad-libbed, it's so easy and natural. The image of these two people getting to know each other seems entirely plausible, and so believable. There's one scene, near the beginning, where the two characters are in a booth in a record store, listening to a song. It's about love, and although neither says anything, you can see in their movements and glances that they are both thinking about their feelings, and the lyrics to the song. They're both pretending that they're not thinking that the song is about them, and the awkwardness of their actions only make the scene more realistic and sweet.
The film is very focused on the two lead characters, and the camera angles and amount of close-ups used reflect that. Although the dialogue is important to the film, the moments of silence, where thoughts are shown through gestures alone are really effective. The amounts of other languages used in the film - for instance, the first words are in German - make it feel really European, and again add to the realism. These phrases aren't translated, which puts us in Jesse's shoes, almost - he only speaks English.
In summary, the film is definitely unusual. The characters are sweet and endearing, and you really want their relationship to end well. The film ends on a cliff hanger, and although the nine year wait for a sequel must have frustrated quite a few people, watching it in retrospective means I can see the sequel immediately, as I certainly plan to after watching this.
All in all, it's a film about love, and about people, and I'm afraid, if you're not interested in those subjects you won't like it. Although parts of it steal from cliches, that only makes it better. Before Sunrise is one of very few films to be rated 100% fresh on popular review site, Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, no-one has ever reviewed it badly, a fact that speaks for itself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)