between hello and goodbyes..

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2004)

Those months of craving, just to have a glimpse of Before Sunset is over. I finally managed to watch the movie. Though I wont discuss any technical details about the video or audio quality of the video I got. What I will be discussing is a about how did they manage to fuse Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Those nine long years of stillness. An open ending that we just wished that someone knew how it ended. That's what kept me clinging on to Before Sunrise. It ended not with a happy nor sad ending. But it made some of us empty in some way making us want to know more about them. So what we did was to watch it all over for so many times over and over and over. And with every end of the movie we learned more about them. A hundred and five minutes of pure conversation with one another. Their glances and stares. The empty streets they've walked. The topics they discussed. Even though we watch the film for so many times we can never end this movie. They never exchanged phone numbers, never gave their address to one another. What they only have was just a promise to meet again after six months at the train station. If ever one of them gave away their phone number. We could just probably generate a happy ending, because either one of them can call the other to meet sometime. And just because of those digits, we can be rest assured that they'll see each other again.
Finally after nine years of waiting we finally have a sequel. Though I hate the idea of having a sequel because it might spoil those special moments in the movie. But I just can't blame them to make one, because there are times that we should know about it. Because the movie moved us so much in a way that Jesse and Celine were more than just characters in a simple movie, but it slowly seeps into our minds often that they've became a part of ours. Before Sunset was seamlessly appended that those questions we used to ask ourselves were answered, like 'did they ever meet again?' or 'what happened after six months?' Just don't be surprised that a measly eighty minutes is short for a sequel. The film runs in real-time where Jesse has to board a plane to New York. Jesse or Jesse Wallace(they finally figured out a surname) attended a book signing of his first published book in Paris. And there she met Celine. Then the story continues where they just both walked on the streets of Paris on their way to the café. By just watching them together again made a feeling of joy and contentment within me that kept me glued to their dialogues. Again, the best thing about this movie is the simplicity. Before Sunset was just showcasing ordinary lives of two strangers who have met nine years ago on a train. I would definitely recommend it to everyone, even though you haven't seen Before Sunrise. And if you liked Before Sunset, without delay try to watch Before Sunrise to complete the picture. A+