FILM REVIEW: BEFORE SUNSET Dir: Richard Linklater. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy. Before Sunrise was Richard Linklater's third film, his first truly mature effort, which saw strangers Jessie (Hawke) and Céline (Delpy) meet each other by chance and then spend a night wondering around Vienna discussing life, love, and various beliefs all against the beautiful backdrop of that city at night. A Brief Encounter for the nineties, this genuinely touching and sweet film ended with Jessie and Celine promising to meet back in Vienna six months later. Nine years on and we find Jessie giving a talk in a Parisian book shop. He's spent the last four years writing a book about the night he spent with Celine, and to Jessie's surprise, she suddenly arrives at the bookshop, and they're reunited for the first time. It turns out that whilst Jessie was in Vienna as planned, Celine never made it due to her Grandmother dying a couple of days beforehand. And thus they walk and talk through Paris, catching up whilst lamenting the past. Like Before Sunrise, Slacker and Waking Life, this finds Linklater in an intellectual mood, examing characters lives and beliefs again, and questioning whether the decisions they've made were the right ones. Jessie's in a loveless marriage, but unable to imagine a life without his son, whilst Celine suffers from not being able to commit, and an inability to allow herself to fall in love again, as it's gradually revealed that both were scarred by the night they spent together, and that they never stayed together then. Paris by day doesn't make for such a beautiful backdrop as Vienna by night did,
	and the joy of seeing two characters fall in love for the first time within such a short space of time is missing from this sequel, but it's still an involving, intelligent and genuinely emotional film. You might not always agree with the sentiments the characters express, but it can't be denied that they're incredibly rounded and believable characters. As you'll see from a few flashbacks to the first film, Hawke's aged terribly, looking like a slightly younger version of Willem Dafoe, and at first seems slightly annoying as he hides his feelings from Delpy. But despite being tinged by melancholy, Delpy's as sweet and as sexy as ever, and not for a second will you question the feelings the two characters have for each other. To pull off a film which is basically all about two people talking to each other is an incredible achievement, and now Linklater's managed it twice, so kudos to him, though more innovative visuals and a slightly longer running time might have made it all the more enjoyable. Bittersweet, though more sweet than bitter, another ambiguous ending may frustrate, but as Jessie says when discussing his book, it depends on whether your a romantic or a cynic to how you feel that their lives will turn out. So for me at least, it's a very happy ending. Alex Finch. Comments?
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