Perfection

Rating: 10/10 (10 March 2005)

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy were just sublime in "Before Sunset", the sequel to their 1994's "Before Sunrise". Essentially, it's a movie about nothing -- the two of them see each other for the first time after nine years and just walk and talk; yet, at the same time, it's about everything and anything we truly care, desire, and hope for in life. It's about love, our perception of it, our yearning to attain it, and our disappointments for our inability to put a grasp on it. Nine years later, we see clearly the signs of dissatisfaction and disappointments on their faces. Frustrated with the banality of life, yet imprisoned by the vast responsibilities to themselves and the ones they love to endure its miseries, the two of them are no longer as hopeful, nor as romantic about life and love, like they were nine years ago. There is less dreaming this time, more about reality, more about the pains experienced and the compromises made in life. There are also regrets, regrets about this lost love, and tears, tears held back in their eyes wondering what could've been. But the sparks and longings they saw and felt long ago were still palpable, just like they were the night they first met. By the end of the film, it's clear that not all is lost, their love is buried some where deep down in their hearts, cherished by their memories of that one encounter almost a decade ago. And for us, it's always comforting to know that perhaps, just perhaps, their love could eventually prevail, for after all, we are all hopeless romantics struggling to live a life of love and dream.