IMDb > Before Sunset (2004)
Before Sunset
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Before Sunset (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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Before Sunset (2004) -- It's nine years after Jesse and Celine first met; now, they encounter one another on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.
Before Sunset (2004) -- CineMagia.ro - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   41,259 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Richard Linklater (screenplay) &
Julie Delpy (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Before Sunset on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 June 2004 (Germany) more
Genre:
Tagline:
What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?
Plot:
It's nine years after Jesse and Celine first met; now, they encounter one another on the French leg of Jesse's book tour. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(78 articles)
Decade in Review: 2004 Top Ten
 (From FilmExperience. 14 December 2009, 6:56 PM, PST)

Me and Orson Welles (review)
 (From FlickFilosopher. 9 December 2009, 1:32 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Reluctance more (400 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Ethan Hawke ... Jesse

Julie Delpy ... Celine

Vernon Dobtcheff ... Bookstore Manager
Louise Lemoine Torres ... Journalist #1
Rodolphe Pauly ... Journalist #2
Mariane Plasteig ... Waitress
Diabolo ... Philippe
Denis Evrard ... Boat Attendant
Albert Delpy ... Man at Grill
Marie Pillet ... Woman in Courtyard
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Before Sunrise 2 (USA) (working title)
If Not Now (USA) (working title)
Untitled Before Sunrise Sequel (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language and sexual references.
Runtime:
80 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Since the film takes place during the mid-late afternoon, it was the only time of day director Richard Linklater would shoot the scenes in the film. He felt it added to the hyper reality of the film, and often relied on the actors to get perfect takes at the right time. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Jesse and Celine sit on a bench in the park Jesse has his arm around Celine in one shot, in the next the his arm is gone. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Journalist #1: Do you consider the book to be autobiographical?
Jesse: Uh, well, I mean... isn't everything autobiographical?
more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Bach: Goldberg Variation Number 25 more

FAQ

What other films are like Before Sunset?
more
27 out of 31 people found the following comment useful.
Reluctance, 26 December 2004
8/10
Author: tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach

Finally, Linklater does something with his talent. His strength in the past has been to shape the form of his films to match the subject. At least that's been true when the subject is the tentativeness of existence.

He's done well enough in the past, but since his characters were aimless his projects inherited a meaninglessness. Where he tried to impart introspective layers with "Waking Life," those layers were trite threads of fake profundities. Well, never mind. Artists aren't required to be particularly smart — even about who they are and what they do.

What is required is the ability to discover and convey something that resonates. Usually in films the resonance is a sort of nervous recognition in the characters and situation. Sometimes, the manner of the film, the nature of the world presented is enough to engage. Such is the value of Kieslowski — and how he managed Delpy.

This film tries something different, something commonly attempted and almost never achieved: the direct drama of discovery between two people. This hosts the construction not in any story or setting or even situation, though they are all employed in the service of the goals. Instead, the whole thing revolves around the tentative motions toward intimacy between two people.

Why this usually fails is because of the unwieldy mechanics. In order to seem real (most reviewers call this film "veristic") the dramatic projection has to be hyperreal, but not so much that it appears artificial. So how do you dramatically amplify lightly probing intimacies? Its all in the most subtle hesitations of the actors, in that range beyond what "really" might happen and them forthrightly telling us what's happening.

The construction is perfect: all movies are about other movies. In this case, we literally have the last chapter of the romance as a movie with movie values and memories. More, those are romantically captured in a book that one character carries from the previous movie into this one. Thus, all their discussion, all their reluctances are about having the present film approach the previous one.

I'm astonished at the perfection of the idea, as astonished as I am about how well the two, especially Delpy, support it. This is delicate stuff.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

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