Review of Before Sunset (2004) by Dominic D — 28 Jul 2010

There was something about the almost entirely dialogue driven format of Before Sunset that made it so easy to become emotionally attached to the characters. There are many films where having little speech and using other techniques works strongly in their favour but with this piece the strength came from a beautifully written script and not a whole lot else.

I cannot decide who I preferred from the two characters and, although will probably do so soon, for the meantime I?ll say I enjoyed the performances equally and as pair slightly more than individually. If either was to scrape first place it would be the sensational Delpy. She wins but almost completely because of her stunning beauty. Although, perhaps I did prefer her slightly as I found it easier to grow fond of her despite the fact both Hawke and Delpy became my friends by the end.

To criticise I would complain about the slight lack of continuity between cuts. I suppose when directing, Linklater thought of it as one long scene, which it is, and so was slightly distracted when it came to cutting between shots. For example a man in a red t-shirt appears to take ten seconds to walk two metres of path.

I have decided, after watching this film, that I?m going to move to Paris, what a gorgeous place. The river, the bridges, the shops and the castle. All shot so simplistically as to not distract us from the intrinsic conversation. They could have experimented more with the camera as they did shortly whilst they were driving. The idea to leave the camera outside the car was a perfect move as other methods often distract me.

For an ?American independent? film it was good, as a film it certainly was not bad.

I have just discovered that this is a sequel, I am rather shocked actually, I shall have to watch the prequel.