This film is the follow-up to the film Before Sunrise (1995), which will be shown Sunday 10th October, 7:30pm.

The film

“I’m just happy to see you, even if you’ve become an angry, manic-depressive activist”

Nine years make for a horrifyingly long six months, but, luckily for us, a decade does allow for some very intriguing emotional baggage to be accrued. So it is with Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (July Delpie) in their second meeting, this time in Paris, as the former’s career as a writer paves the way for a second chance at love. However, both now have lives and passions of their own, and as they discuss time and love, the question always lingers: could any real relationship have matched up to the sheer drama and romance of a missed rendezvous in Vienna?

With a soul-crushing backlog of responsibility and regret bearing down on them the stakes are somewhat higher than before, and the mere hour or so that the pair have together makes for the bizarre experience of a romantic film, based almost entirely on dialogue, which is also excruciatingly tense. A unique cinematic moment, and not to be missed.

Close to home

The script for Before Sunset was a group effort, with the actors themselves heavily involved in its creation. The keen-eyed may take pleasure in swooping down on moments where the fiction seems uncomfortably close to some aspects of the cast’s lives.

Reviews

“I was charmed, engaged and moved by the delightful Before Sunset” Philip French, The Observer

“It would trample the emotional delicacy of Before Sunset to reveal its surprises, but the film's mood is at once cynical, hopeful, and worldly-wise; its exploratory zeal is tempered with the cool air of lowered expectations.” Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

“Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are a rare case of two movies that rightfully demand yet another sequel.” David Denby, The New Yorker “

"You really must see it...it is without a doubt one of the achievements of the year.” Gabriel Shanks, Mixed Reviews

“One realises almost from the first moments of their awkward reintroduction that Linklater was right to bring Jesse and Celine back together. Aside from Robert Altman, no director in recent American cinema has made the stutter and flow of talk sound so spontaneous and engaging.” Anthony Quinn, The Independent