Before Sunset

365 Films

Entry #48

Before Sunset (2004)

Directed by Richard Linklater

One of the many ingenious concepts driving Before Sunset is the idea that the film prior to it stands as a stain upon the memories of the two main characters.  It’s not to say the point is made that Jesse and Celine look back on that time with contempt but rather regret in holding up the experiences of Before Sunrise as the pinnacle of their lives.  Any concept of a sequel to that film would have been disastrous if they had attempted something like that.  For example, had they executed a simple rehash bathed in nostalgia and self-satisfaction for the simple chore of reassembling the old team for one last go-round, the results would have been depressingly banal.  The first of many things that Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke made sure of was the fact that they allowed an actual amount of time to pass.  Nine years stands between these two films and it’s almost embarrassing to imagine what would have happened had they shot the film a year or two later and merely pretended that much time had passed.  Just look at the way the two actors carry themselves and the way they listen during conversation, these are two completely different people to whom nine years has made a remarkable difference.  The way Linklater plays with time and pacing in this film is especially interesting in comparison to its predecessor.  The original film runs merely one hour and forty minutes, and while it’s by no means an epic it allows you to feel the entirety of a night without shooting a twelve-hour film.  Sunset runs a scant eighty minutes and it is shot in real time.  Jesse is on his way to catch his plane back to the states so the film even has a ticking clock element to it as well.  In their early twenties, everything was happening to these two and they wanted to experience it all and make the most out of that borrowed time as much as they could.  Their thirty-year-old selves on the other hand are running out of it, even the title of this film itself is indicative of a finite amount of time.  This is all a way of getting at what is most remarkable about this film is the fact that Linklater chose to take his characters to dark and mournful places and allow life to happen to them.  This is a film about reconnecting, mourning over what’s been lost, and finally attempting to get on with it.  That the two actors still maintain their warm rapport and Linklater’s skills as a visual stylist have increased exponentially in nine years only makes that bitter pill so incredibly easy to swallow.  This is romantic comedy as thriller and the “will they or won’t they” aspect is a race against not only that nagging flight back to the states, but also against the very idea of time itself.  Speaking of the will they or won’t they, Before Sunset has to have one of the boldest and most satisfying final shots of any film in recent memory.  It is also the moment in my life when I was introduced to the incomparable Nina Simone and for that I will be eternally grateful.  It is my understanding that Linklater has been shooting a film for the past twelve or so years that is to center around the real age progression of a child from boyhood to adolescence.  Obviously I will be there front and center for that film when it is released but part of me can’t help that feel that Linklater has already accomplished showing life on film in real time.  With Before Sunset, Linklater has created a new genre: romantic comedy as life itself.