my heart's still in my throat

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2004)

Such a lovely film! Of course, I should preface this by saying Before Sunrise (the "first" one) has always been a truly heart-wrenching guilty pleasure of mine. OOh, I'm so guilty of loving this film. But, as soon as I get to see Before Sunset again, I will be guilty of loving a sequel as well.
I love it. I love the divine simplicity of mid-nineties precocious pseudo-boho banter. I love it. I love semi-art house love stories that really cater to main stream audiences searching for film-junkie street cred. I love Ethan. "Jesse" defines the "every boy" American boy you wished every American boy you met was like. Nine years later, I still want one of them to be Jesse. ~sigh~ I can dream, can't I?
And while Julie Delpy may be the bane of my(or every other raging jealous loony of a girl's) existence, there is simply no other actress that could BE "Celine". Her character is so honestly portrayed in the "sequel"(Ugh, I hate calling it that). Celine's songs will flatten you, period. And Ms. Delpy wrote them!!??!! GAH!! so jealous! You know what? I love Julie too. what a talent!
I have been known as a film snob and I can acknowledge that. Yet out of all the films that have fans salivating for a "I-know-they-shouldn't-make-one-but-I-wish-they-would" sequel, this one nearly made me pass out with pleasure. I didn't even realize I wanted a sequel. I don't normally like sequels. But thank a higher power this one was made. The characters actually developed. And they developed over the nine year span as the "rest of us" did as well. It's remarkably satisfying to have actors acting human.
Paris was shot so naturally. You'll love the look of the alley-ways and eye-level walking views. Makes you all wistful for the Vienna of the last decade(errmm.."first one"). A lot of the scenery really goes for a throw back of Before Sunrise. Which, yeah, is totally awesome. For a second, when I saw the boat on the River Seine, I thought it was part of a flash back. My heart was in my throat. Then, that ending. No spoilers, I promise. But. ..I've never been moved to near-tears by a -ugh- sequel in my entire life. Had I not been in public, I probably wouldn't have held 'em back. You CAN NOT ask for a more perfect ending. And this is coming from a girl that makes it a point to hate endings. Yeah, I'm pretentious. But You're reading a film comment, so you are too. ha ha.
Maybe my life was a bit too busy over the last decade to have been thinking about what was happening to Celine and Jesse, but "milkshake!", I should've. If you haven't seen Before Sunrise, please see that first. Then, I hope, you'll be able to understand why us "fans" actually held our hearts in our throats and tried to swallow down tears over this film's "what might have been."
on that note, anyone want to see this again with me?