1995's Before Sunrise explored the idea of two strangers meeting and becoming entirely enamoured with each other over the course of a few hours in an extremely human way without all the cliche’s and tropes of a typical Hollywood film. It ended on a cliffhanger of sorts as to whether the two lovers, Jesse & Celine, would meet again in 6 months as they plan to do.
2004's Before Sunset then takes place 9 years later and reunited the characters in another chance meeting where they now explore the notion of unfulfilled life expectations, their careers, their relationships, and ultimately pursuing the idea of what would you do if you had another shot with the one that got away.
Celine attends a book signing of Jesse’s, who is now an accomplished author and who’s most recent book is a novelisation about the events of Before Sunrise, the night they met in Vienna. The two of them go for coffee, catch up and fill each other in on their lives, and confront each other about their feelings for each other which have remained passionately intense for almost a decade, despite not seeing each other at all in that time span.
Much like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset is on the short side at around 75 minutes, yet the entire thing is just a conversation between two people so it doesn't overstay its welcome. It plays out in real time as well meaning the story being told lasts just over an hour for Jesse & Celine. I enjoyed Before Sunrise as it was such a raw, stripped down romance story without all the dramatic cliche plot beats. It was just about two strangers falling for each other. Before Sunset is an even better film in my eyes because not only does it return to this intense, realistically portrayed romance between the two characters, but it also spends a lot of time showing how these characters have changed since their meeting in Vienna and how that has influenced who they are and how they feel about love as a concept. It’s far more philosophical and cynical than Sunrise, but without coming across as clinical or depressive.
A truly unique experience that I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone, but strictly as a complimentary piece to Before Sunrise and not a film to be experienced on it’s own.
2004's Before Sunset then takes place 9 years later and reunited the characters in another chance meeting where they now explore the notion of unfulfilled life expectations, their careers, their relationships, and ultimately pursuing the idea of what would you do if you had another shot with the one that got away.
Celine attends a book signing of Jesse’s, who is now an accomplished author and who’s most recent book is a novelisation about the events of Before Sunrise, the night they met in Vienna. The two of them go for coffee, catch up and fill each other in on their lives, and confront each other about their feelings for each other which have remained passionately intense for almost a decade, despite not seeing each other at all in that time span.
Much like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset is on the short side at around 75 minutes, yet the entire thing is just a conversation between two people so it doesn't overstay its welcome. It plays out in real time as well meaning the story being told lasts just over an hour for Jesse & Celine. I enjoyed Before Sunrise as it was such a raw, stripped down romance story without all the dramatic cliche plot beats. It was just about two strangers falling for each other. Before Sunset is an even better film in my eyes because not only does it return to this intense, realistically portrayed romance between the two characters, but it also spends a lot of time showing how these characters have changed since their meeting in Vienna and how that has influenced who they are and how they feel about love as a concept. It’s far more philosophical and cynical than Sunrise, but without coming across as clinical or depressive.
A truly unique experience that I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone, but strictly as a complimentary piece to Before Sunrise and not a film to be experienced on it’s own.