Blog From The Bench

A review for BEFORE SUNSET. Especially considering it's just about my all-time favorite film. I wrote this review/reaction in a fit of emotion.

"Just in Time"

There's no other film that affects me the same way BEFORE SUNSET does. As eighty quick minutes flash by I sit in a state of rapture, a goofy lopsided grin on my face, or my heart breaking as deeply emotional revelations spill forth from the backseat of a Peugeot van... no other film I've ever experienced envelopes me--- my mind, my thoughts, my emotions-- in the same way BEFORE SUNSET does.

BEFORE SUNSET is an emotional experience for me. I saw it for the first time at the Haymarket Odeon Theatre at the end of my second week in London. It was a new experience for me- I was just embarking on a several month stay in Britain's capital city, and while I wasn't exactly nervous, I was experiencing emotions I'd never felt before, and felt a vulnerability, both physical and emotional, that was entirely new to me. But somehow, in the dark and dingy little Screen Two down in the basement, I connected. Not just connected to the movie (which I absolutely did), but connected to London, to its inhabitants (the small audience, like me, clearly adored the film and didn't want it to end either), and oddly, to myself. Already, just two weeks into my semester, I could feel small changes happening inside of me- and for the first time I felt like I was able to recognize that person, and realized I indeed wanted to become him.

BEFORE SUNSET, like BEFORE SUNRISE that preceded it, is set in a European city. Like Ethan Hawk's character, I was an American who felt slightly out of place. And obviously, Hawk's character's name is Jesse- just like me. That parallels were obvious, and it clicked. I recognized, even at that early point in time, that Jesse and Celine's environment, first Vienna and then Paris, subtly effected them the same way my new environment was affecting me. In BEFORE SUNSET Paris is like the third character, the quiet and ever-watchful entity that both manages to watch from a distance and actively interact with them both. I had no Celine, but I had London- the sights and sounds of a city pulsing with life, and like Jesse and Celine's constant attempts to probe into each other's personality, memories, and past, I was trying to unlock the mystery of this city, and figure out how it was connected to me, and if there was indeed a chance for a future together, if only (in the grand scheme of things) for just a brief moment in time.

Linklater's film is about isolation and connection, and how the two are often intimately intertwined. I could relate- I was alone, completely alone and anonymous, in the heart of a city I hardly knew. And yet, even though I was isolated and alone physically, I was connected, somehow, and to something, for the first time. I emerged from the Haymarket into the biting cold of the London night, a light precipitation stinging my eyes the moment I passed the gold doors of the theatre and into the black night. My first reaction was to get to the nearest tube stop, and I headed that way. But something made me stop, and I spun around and headed in the opposite direction. I walked down ancient streets with stone buildings that trapping me from all sides, and emerged onto Trafalgar Square. Because of the rain it was largely deserted- and it struck me I had London all to myself. I still remember that moment distinctly, for it hit me all at once. The twinkling lights reflecting off the slightly damp stone and cement, the chilled air, the encapsulating silence that muted the city noise, my watering eyes... it was a moment where my whole being was breathlessly attuned, as if for the very first time, with the beauty that surrounded me. I was alone, but part of something much bigger than myself.

Throughout BEFORE SUNSET emotions are slowly peeled away like the paper-thin layers of an onion, revealing increasingly vivid and pungent sensations lurking beneath. As Jesse and Celine interact they allow their jaded and confident exteriors to be slowly stripped away, allowing thoughts and emotions previously submerged to become suddenly exposed in front of the other person, naked and jagged and sometimes quite ugly. I could feel myself being stripped too, emotionally and spiritually, and I could literally feel my thoughts, feelings and fears melt away into the clear night, as if I was being detoxed from everything I had ever known or felt. Additionally, something breathlessly new and exciting was spreading across my newly exposed being that reassured me and dared me to continue my way down the empty sidewalk running down Whitehall.

BEFORE SUNSET is a movie about memories, and how they actively affect the present by coloring the past and shaping the future. As Jesse and Celine slowly reveal information about their present they also keep going back to that one single moment in their past, unwittingly or not allowing it to shape how the perceive each other and the reality of their present situation. As I watch BEFORE SUNSET it seems a floodgate in my memory is opened up, and memories drench me as I watch the film unfold. BEFORE SUNSET, which now shares an intimate relationship with me and plays an integral part in who I am, is one of the very few films that I feel I actively interact with as I watch it. Though I never feel anything less than completely connected to what is happening on the screen, another part of my mind is working on a completely different plane as I relate and connect Jesse and Celine's experiences with my own. Words, phrases, and little details in the background set off memories and connections like fireworks. The Peugeot emblem on the front of Philippe's black van instantly reminds me of the cheesy Peugeot adds I saw before each of my three London viewings of BEFORE SUNSET. Café Rouge reminds me of the hours and hours I spent in Caffé Nero reading, typing, thinking, and watching. The long shots of Jesse and Celine meandering through the ancient streets of Paris reminds me of my endless walking through the maze-like streets of London. The walk along the Seine reminds me of the time I spent walking along the Thames on my way to Amano or the Tate Modern. Fleeting details: coffee cups, bookshops, signs, historical buildings, clinging vines on ancient stone- they all instantly transport me to a place that I used to be and I often wish I still was. In many ways I feel like I relive my memories through Jesse and Celine, because in essence, our experiences are the same.

Ultimately, I can't think of a better emotional effect a film can have, especially one that centers around the idea of a second chance. BEFORE SUNSET shows Jesse and Celine reconnecting and experiencing their past in a whole new ways. I feel like I have done the same with my beloved London after spending eighty minutes with BEFORE SUNSET. Just like both characters, a chance meeting with an old friend allows for the past to come rushing back with a new clarity and depth, and reminds once again how very special that one moment in time truly was.

“Just in time. You found me, just in time.”