The Best Movie I've Seen in Years

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2004)

I honestly can't remember the last time I was so affected by a movie. This is simply the most beautiful movie I've seen in years. What's more, it affected me very personally. It really forces you to reflect on your own life. Even with movies I love, my enjoyment is usually of a very abstract, aesthetic kind...I admire this or that thing, this bit of dialogue, the way that scene was lit. With Before Sunset, I can't even comment on it so bloodlessly. I felt like I was face to face with my own joys and disappointments when I was watching it. A masterpiece. Richard Linklater is probably the most gifted and humanistic director alive...which is strange, because he's so unprepossessing, and has no particular aura of auteurist holiness. (Bully for him). Film students are probably still more influenced by Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorcese than Linklater, which is a shame.