Before Sunset (DVD)

The trio of Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater continue their “documentary on love” by producing a timeless reunion of one of the most romantic couples in movie history.

***The Story***

American Jesse Wallace, played by Ethan Hawke, spent 4 years writing about a night he’ll remember forever. His novel recounts the single magical day he shared with a French girl he met on a train 9 years ago. With the beautiful city of Vienna as the backdrop, the two connected and shared more during the few hours they had together than some couples during entire lifetimes. It was, for them, the perfect day.

The touching book rapidly becomes a best-seller and Jesse visits France to promote it. On the last day of his tour, the French girl, now 32 years old, enters her favourite Parisian bookstore to find him. Jesse is astonished to see Julie Delpy’s Celine again and he has just a few hours until his plane leaves to say everything he’s been harboring for the last 9 years.

However, it appears as if barely a week has passed since their last encounter: During their Parisian stroll their unbelievable chemistry is gloriously presented for us to cherish and give us quite a few things to reflect on.

***The Qualities***

“Before Sunset” caught me completely off-guard with its many highlights when I first saw it and inconspicuously became one of my favourite movies, ever.

The biggest draw has to be its pace. Even though it is basically two people talking, Jessie and Celine’s connection really carries the audience and time blurs past as you see the sparks fly out. With many contemporary movies feeling overlong despite using every CGI trick in the book, it really baffles me how “Before Sunset” delivers the fastest 77 minute showing I’ve ever seen, just by sticking to the most basic thing of all: Intriguing characters.

The film also interestingly features a minimalistic cast and, as much as I don’t want to undermine the showings of the other eight actors that appear, the movie really is all about Ethan Hawke’s and Julie Delpy’s performances; and they spectacularly nail them dead-on. Their interaction feels real, fluent and their emotions crystal clear.

The production is also interesting, as the whole film is presented in real time; every minute before sunset is important and the movie appears even more life-like as a result. Even camera changes are relatively far between and it is pretty impressive to see the protagonists expertly deliver many long exchanges without a single cut.

Lastly, it is always very satisfying to have such a meticulous sequel to a successful film, as it is pretty easy to rest on your laurels, try to cash in, produce something that is too similar or too different… The list goes on and it is expectedly harder for romantic movies which, after all, rarely get second parts. Still, “Before Sunset” welcomes the challenge and rises through to completely live up to the legend of its predecessor.

***The Prequel***

Jesse’s book depicts the events of “Before Sunrise” the 1995 critically acclaimed film that captured the hearts of romantics around the world. It’s a really smart move, allowing you to appreciate the sequel even if you haven’t seen the original. In “Before Sunrise” the protagonists build their fantastic rapport; in “Before Sunset” they already have it. If we needed to see the first movie to acknowledge it, “Before Sunset” would have been a pretty poor job and rather pointless. Fortunately, I’ll say once more that both Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are great in demonstrating just that, bringing the Oscar-nominated screenplay to life brilliantly.

That said, seeing the first movie does add a few things to the experience. Some allusions are better appreciated and it’s clearer to see how the protagonists have changed over the years, but nothing too dramatic. In fact, I’d say all this would still work even if you were to see “Before Sunset” first and then “Before Sunrise”. A little temporal disorientation might be a good idea if you aren’t a fan of romantic movies: “Before Sunrise” probably offers little to non-romantics, but I firmly believe “Before Sunset” has enough to win any crowd.

The only thing definitely lost when you see the sequel, regardless of chronological variables, is the speculation of what happens after the end credits of “Before Sunrise”. If “Before Sunset” has one flaw is that it takes a little of the original’s magic away. Jesse admits it himself early on, when he explains his denial in revealing what happens after the ambiguous end of his book.

***The Extras***

As Extras on DVDs go, I am not that big of a fan. Theatrical trailers are best viewed at the theaters and deleted scenes are usually deleted for good reason. While Full-Feature Commentaries appeal to many and do offer some useful insight, they often are too definitive for my taste, as I prefer to do draw my own conclusions; which is only ironic if you find my reviews forceful and precise, instead of lax and over-long.

What I really wanted to see was a short interview on how Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater came about shooting the sequel 9 years later, what were they thinking about the characters then and how they wrote them now.

Imagine my surprise as I found that the only Extra, besides the Theatrical Trailer, is *exactly* that and it’s as interesting as I hoped. Lack of full-length commentaries, or post-Oscars coverage might disappoint the more bonus-demanding viewers, but I personally find myself completely covered.

***OVERALL***

Outclassing technological extravaganzas, dozen-hour long sagas and heroic epics, I am always amazed whenever I characterize a movie as simple as “Before Sunset” as my favourite movie of all time. It’s a title well-earned however, as no matter how many times I’ve seen it, it never fails to elevate my mood and always makes me lose my sense of time. I implicitly recommend checking it out, even if you are not into romantic movies, and I personally find it an essential element of my DVD library.