Before Sunset - 2004

Category: Movie

Genre: Drama / Romance

Director: Richard Linklater

Writer: Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Tagline: What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vemon Dobtcheff

Overview and Review of the movie Before Sunset directed by Richard Linklater and written by Ethan, Julie and Richard. :) A sequel to the movie Before Sunrise....

Jesse(Ethan Hawke), who is now an author of a best selling book from the US, and Celine(Julie Delpy), a Frenchwoman working as an activist for an environment protection organization, met nine years ago on the train from Budapest to Vienna, and they meet again when Jesse arrives in Paris for a reading of his new book at a bookstore.

As they have only a few hours until his plane leaves, they stroll through Paris, talking about their experiences, views and about the "connection" they have for each other.

I've noticed they were much wiser and were talking almost Zen-like, about living in the moment. That the happiness is in the doing, not the destination. They still have the connection and they conversed real good, it was as if they've shared their whole lives together. and yet, to think they've only been physically together once... and never shared numbers or anything.

This movie also got me to thinking about marriage and all that. Specially, when Jesse was talking about his: " I feel like I'm running a small nursery with someone I used to date." I clearly dont want to marry someone who is not IN LOVE with me. *Sigh* I also like this line: "I'd rather be alone than be with someone else and feel lonely."

It's a nice, unique movie. And I like the ending.... it was an open one.. like they did before. Brilliant movie, I have to say. Brilliantly simple! Engaging, although might have been boring to some. ;)

Also.. it was also literally exactly after 9 years when this was movie was released... Before Sunrise was 1995. Yay!

Lines I Love:

Celine: They enjoy the goal but not the process. But the reality of it is that the true work of improving things is in the little achievements of the day.

Celine: You can never replace anyone because everyone is made up of such beautiful specific details.

Jesse: At least now we don't have to pretend that each new sexual experience is a life-altering event.
Celine: I know. By now, you know, you've stuck it in so many places, it's like about to fall off.
Jesse: Yeah, you know, and I can't realistically expect that you've become anything but a total ho, at this point.
Celine: Yeah, thank you.

Jesse: I heard this story once about when the Germans were occupying Paris and they had to retreat back. They wired Notre Dame to blow, but they had to leave one guy in charge of hitting the switch. And the guy, the soldier, 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 Sacre Couer, Eiffel Tower. Couple other places I think...
: Is that true?
Jesse: I don't know. I always liked the story, though.

Jesse: You want to know why I wrote that stupid book?
Celine: Why?
Jesse: So that you might come to a reading in Paris and I could walk up to you and ask, "Where the fuck were you?"
Celine: [laughing] No - you thought I'd be here today?
Jesse: I'm serious. I think I wrote it, in a way, to try to find you.
Celine: Okay, that's - I know that's not true, but that's sweet of you to say.
Jesse: I think it is true.

Jesse: Oh, God, why weren't you there, in Vienna?
Celine: I told you why.
Jesse: Well, I know why, I just - I wish you would have been. Our lives might have been so much different.
Celine: You think so?
Jesse: I actually do.
Celine: Maybe not. Maybe, we would have hated each other eventually.
Jesse: Oh what, like we hate each other now?
Celine: You know, maybe we're - we're only good at brief encounters, walking around in European cities in warm climate.

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