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In the breathtaking follow-up to Before Sunrise, Celine tracks down Jesse, now an author, at the tail end of his book tour in Paris, with only a few hours left before he is to board a flight back home to the States. Meeting almost a decade after their short-lived romance in Vienna, the pair find their chemistry rekindled by increasingly candid exchanges about professional setbacks, marital disappointments, and the compromises of adulthood. Impelled by an urgent sense of the transience of human connection, Before Sunset remains Richard Linklater’s most seductive experiment with time’s inexorable passage and the way love can seem to stop it in its tracks. (Criterion)
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The cleverly written dialogues are brilliantly delivered by both Ethan Hawke and his partner Julie Delpy. The film avoids sentimentality and romantic clichés, it captivated me with its simplicity and naturalness, while remaining interesting every second.
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When those two look at each other, you immediately know it’s going to be beautiful. They simply click perfectly, and their meeting is beautiful. After nine years, they see each other for the first time since she didn't keep her promise and wasn't at the place they were supposed to meet after six months. But he came. After nine years, they have the opportunity to talk again and say what they want to. Both are incredibly believable; the camera lets them speak and follows them as they walk through Paris, capturing their words as if documenting the meeting of two real people who haven't seen each other for nine years. A beautiful romance. Just beautiful.
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CONTAINS HINTS OF SPOILERS. This is where I first noticed that the flamboyant cuteness of Celine from the first installment can be toxic, unfortunately. All the insecurities and would-be complex thought processes from the first installment begin to culminate here, and Celine unfortunately profiles as a neurotic and indecisive girl who will be dissatisfied in any circumstance. With herself, with her life, with her lack of "true, spontaneous" love, or with anything else – sadly, you can really put anything in there. I should point out that I am a man and that women may have a different opinion on this very tricky and sensitive subject, which I fully respect. But despite my personal criticisms of her toxic character here, I still found her very likable. The interaction and chemistry in her conversations with Jesse worked almost as well as in the first one, and I was still rooting for them quite a bit. I humbly have to admit though, a little less than in the first installment. It just wasn't the huge wow it was before, but I was still thoroughly entertained and devoured every word. Bravo, Mr. Linklater.
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Even though the film is only 80 minutes long, I got pretty bored at times. Some of the dialogue was rather uninteresting. Maybe it was because I hadn't seen Before Sunrise and had nothing to draw on. On the other hand, I like how realistically it's filmed. I'm not a big fan of Julie Delpy, but she works well here. Both act naturally and handle their roles well. 3.5 stars.
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I saw it shortly after finishing Before Sunrise, and at first I was a little scared that they wouldn't be able to recreate the atmosphere. Fortunately, every sentence spoken gains meaning over time, every casual conversation takes on a different dimension, and suddenly Celine is saying, "I was fine until I read your fucking book!" and I break down into molecules just like Jesse. The second viewing elevates Richard Linklater's work to the unforgettable, and with its more mature but no less magical storytelling spirit, it manages to grab the viewer and fill them to the brim with emotions and experiences.
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