world classic films- Before Sunset

imagine you are meeting someone after a very long time – say nine years. You didn’t have any kind of details about the other person in these nine years, and you absolutely have no idea about the whereabouts. Suddenly, while you are casually looking at some point, if that person stands there looking and smiling at you, what will your reaction be? Especially if that person is of the opposite gender?

Before Sunset is a beautiful portrayal of emotions. It is the sequel of ‘After Sunset’ which was released in 1995. In the movie, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) has grown to be an acclaimed writer, and he writes a book about the girl he met nine years ago at Vienna. While talking at a book store in Paris which is incidentally the last leg of his promotional tour, he suddenly looks at Celine (Julie Delphy), the girl whom he met nine years ago for a few hours. He quickly finishes his talk, and even though he has very little time left to catch his flight, he goes to Celine and asks her to have a coffee with him.

Celine accepts and they both start to walk towards Celine’s favorite coffee shop, a few blocks away. They have very little time left before they separate again. They start talking about their plan to meet at Vienna after six months when they first met, and how Celine missed the meeting as her Grand ma passed away. She asks Jesse was he present at Vienna and was he disappointed since Celine didn’t turn up, and Jesse tells he too missed the meeting. As Celine asks Jesse to give a valid reason for his absence, she discovers that Jesse indeed was present at Vienna to meet Celine. This makes her sad, and Jesse convinces her that there is nothing to be done, as that was the way things went.

Slowly, their conversation turns personal, and Celine discovers that Jesse is married and has a kid. Celine too has a boyfriend who is a photojournalist. They talk about various topics – about Celine mostly and their interests. Gradually, Celine starts talking what’s hidden in her heart. She tells Jesse that since they separated after their first meeting, she is unable to be united with any male. She tells that every time she is with a male, she feels lonely inside, and only when she is lonely without anyone by her side, she feels comfortable. That’s the reason her boyfriend is a photojournalist, traveling across countries most times.

She expresses her anguish about not being with Jesse. They both know in their minds that after their first meeting, they have never been happier in their lives. In some way, every incident happened in their lives for the past nine years reminded them of each other.

Celine becomes emotional while they travel to her apartment in a hired car. She starts to cry, having had all her memories about their first meeting and the irony of life that they were never together after the first meet. Jesse gently tries to stroke her head, and pulls back. Jesse tells Celine about his married life, and how sour it is. Just for the sake of his son, he tells Celine, that they both are living together, and there is nothing similar between them both, and every day it’s like hell.

They both realize that they have created a vacuum in their minds since they first met, and only they can fill the vacuum in each other’s hearts. But, it’s impossible to get united after these years, as they both have their own lives to pursue. They both know about this bitter truth, but even then, they want to be with each other till the last possible second.