Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.Nine years after Jesse and Celine first met, they encounter each other again on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.
- Director
- Writers
- Richard Linklater(screenplay)
- Julie Delpy(screenplay)
- Ethan Hawke(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Richard Linklater(screenplay)
- Julie Delpy(screenplay)
- Ethan Hawke(screenplay)
- Stars
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 9 wins & 32 nominations total
Videos1
- Director
- Writers
- Richard Linklater(screenplay) (story) (characters)
- Julie Delpy(screenplay)
- Ethan Hawke(screenplay)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
Early thirty-something American Jesse Wallace is in a Paris bookstore, the last stop on a tour to promote his best selling book, This Time. Although he is vague to reporters about the source material for the book, it is about his chance encounter nine years earlier on June 15-16, 1994 with a Parisienne named Celine, and the memorable and romantic day and evening they spent together in Vienna. At the end of their encounter at the Vienna train station, which is also how the book ends, they, not providing contact information to the other, vowed to meet each other again in exactly six months at that very spot. As the media scrum at the bookstore nears its conclusion, Jesse spots Celine in the crowd, she who only found out about the book when she earlier saw his photograph promoting this public appearance. Much like their previous encounter, Jesse and Celine, who is now an environmental activist, decide to spend time together until he is supposed to catch his flight back to New York, this time only being about an hour. Beyond the issue of the six month meeting, what has happened in their lives in the intervening nine years, and their current lives, they once again talk about their philosophies of life and love, this time with the knowledge of their day together and how it shaped what has happened to them. —Huggo
- Taglines
- What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?
- Genres
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for language and sexual references
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaIn the movie, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) confesses to Celine (Julie Delpy) that he wrote a book about their meeting 9 years before, partially in the hope that she would read it and re-establish contact with him. Like Before Sunrise (1995), this is based on events in director Richard Linklater's own life. He had once spent a night walking and talking around Philadelphia with a woman called Amy in 1989. Though they initially stayed in touch over the telephone, they lost contact eventually. In 1994, Linklater shot Before Sunrise (1995), based on his night with Amy. Like Jesse in "Before Sunset", Linklater was secretly hoping that Amy had heard of the movie, and would show up at the premiere, but she did not. When "Before Sunset" was released, she did not show up either. It wasn't until 2010, before Linklater started production on the second sequel, Before Midnight (2013), that a friend of Amy, who knew about their story, contacted Linklater to tell him that Amy had died in a motorcycle accident on May 9, 1994, at the age of 24, a few weeks before he started shooting Before Sunrise (1995).
- GoofsWhile walking in a park, an extra passes Jesse and Celine. When the camera angle moves to their front, he passes about 10 seconds later.
Top review
Manages to Improve on a Very Good First Film
Before Sunset (2004)
**** (out of 4)
Nine years after the events in BEFORE SUNRISE, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) returns to Paris to do a Q&A for his book, which just happens to talk about that night in Vienna. Celine (Julie Delpy) winds up coming to the event and afterwards they've got a little over a hour to catch up on what's been going on in their lives. BEFORE SUNSET is clearly an improvement over the already very good first film but what makes this one here even more special is that it captures the magic of the first picture while at the same time taking a look at the darker issues in their lives. As with the first film, it's really amazing how director Richard Linklater managed to make this feel like a documentary that you're watching and not once do you see Hawke and Delpy as actors but instead you see them as real people that are simply being filmed by an invisible camera. The film manages to really make you believe that the story is picking up nine years after the previous film and I must say that the explanation for the ending of the first movie is extremely well handled. I'm not going to spoil what happened six months later but it's perfectly handled here. Even the first appearance of Celine is extremely beautiful and perfectly done. I really liked the dialogue here but I also like the fact that it once again comes across so real. I say this because I viewed this at the same age of the characters and I thought their feelings on growing older are so true. Hearing Hawke talk about his son and relationships is just something one can connect with and like the previous film the situations make you feel as if you could be the one doing the talking or at least you know someone like these characters. Once again both Hawke and Delpy are terrific together and really fit back well in their characters. There are more emotional or dramatic moments here and both handle them well. Linklater, who wrote the script with the two stars, keeps the film moving at a great pace and really manages to make one fall for the situation that these two are in.
**** (out of 4)
Nine years after the events in BEFORE SUNRISE, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) returns to Paris to do a Q&A for his book, which just happens to talk about that night in Vienna. Celine (Julie Delpy) winds up coming to the event and afterwards they've got a little over a hour to catch up on what's been going on in their lives. BEFORE SUNSET is clearly an improvement over the already very good first film but what makes this one here even more special is that it captures the magic of the first picture while at the same time taking a look at the darker issues in their lives. As with the first film, it's really amazing how director Richard Linklater managed to make this feel like a documentary that you're watching and not once do you see Hawke and Delpy as actors but instead you see them as real people that are simply being filmed by an invisible camera. The film manages to really make you believe that the story is picking up nine years after the previous film and I must say that the explanation for the ending of the first movie is extremely well handled. I'm not going to spoil what happened six months later but it's perfectly handled here. Even the first appearance of Celine is extremely beautiful and perfectly done. I really liked the dialogue here but I also like the fact that it once again comes across so real. I say this because I viewed this at the same age of the characters and I thought their feelings on growing older are so true. Hearing Hawke talk about his son and relationships is just something one can connect with and like the previous film the situations make you feel as if you could be the one doing the talking or at least you know someone like these characters. Once again both Hawke and Delpy are terrific together and really fit back well in their characters. There are more emotional or dramatic moments here and both handle them well. Linklater, who wrote the script with the two stars, keeps the film moving at a great pace and really manages to make one fall for the situation that these two are in.
helpful•91
- Michael_Elliott
- Feb 25, 2013
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Before Sunrise 2
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,700,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,820,649
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $219,425
- Jul 4, 2004
- Gross worldwide
- $15,936,507
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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