DVD Giveaway - Solitary Man
Ends Sep 12, 2010
Enter to win this DVD release starring Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, Susan Sarandan, and Mary-Louise Parker.
Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) discuss life, the universe, and everything in "Before Sunset"
Julie Delpy (Celine) and Ethan Hawke (Jesse) return as their characters from "Before Sunrise" in this sequel that picks up 9 years after the conclusion of the earlier film. That is a good thing, since it was 9 years ago when the first movie was released. In this new film, Jesse is a successful writer who is touring Europe promoting his book, a book that is about his fling with Celine.
Jesse is sitting in a bookstore in Paris, signing autographs and answering questions when he notices Celine standing in the wings. His agent advises him that he must catch a flight later, but he decides to go get some coffee with his former lover. After they leave the coffee shop they then spend the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, talking about what has happened to them over the intervening years, and about life in general. Essentially, they are reconnecting after a long time spent apart. Their plan to meet each other in Vienna, 6 months after their original encounter did not materialize, as we find out, and after getting past the disappointment brought about by the failure of that plan, they are able to speak to each other from the heart, and from the soul.
It would be easy to dismiss this film as either boring or meaningless, but there is something especially honest and heartfelt at work here. Director Richard Linklater has crafted a piece that is an examination of contemporary mores, values and problems, both personal and to some degree societal. The two stars may be actors in a film, but I suspect we get to see a bit of their real selves here. I would certainly like to know how much of the dialogue was improvised as I wouldn't be surprised to find out Linklater used quite a few of the actor's own words.
Jesse seems to be a bit more optimistic about life than Celine, yet Celine, despite her cynicism, is still probably the more romantic of the two. Her attitudes about life and love mirror the fantasies which many of us walk around with, yet his sensibilities are more worldly and pragmatic. After his failure to meet with Celine in Vienna, he moved on with his life and meeting her at the bookstore was a surprise to him. She sought him out when she found out he was coming to Paris, and it is apparent that she has never let go of the romance she had with him.
"Before Sunset" isn't about anything other than two very real people, living in the very real world, and how they have coped with and continue to cope with all of those things we all have to face at certain points in our lives. I learned something about myself watching this movie, and when a film opens up barriers in my mind, barriers I never realized were there, I have to be impressed. "Before Sunset" is a worthy sequel, and I wouldn't be surprised to see another film about these two at some point in the future.
