Before Sunset | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Richard Linklater |
Produced by | Richard Linklater Anne Walker-McBay |
Screenplay by | Richard Linklater Ethan Hawke Julie Delpy |
Story by | Richard Linklater Kim Krizan |
Based on | Characters by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan |
Starring | Ethan Hawke Julie Delpy |
Music by | Julie Delpy |
Cinematography | Lee Daniel |
Edited by | Sandra Adair |
Production
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Distributed by | Warner Independent Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English French |
Budget | $2.7 million |
Box office | $16.0 million |
Before Sunset is a 2004 American romantic drama film, the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995). Like its predecessor, the film was directed by Richard Linklater. He shares screenplay credit with actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, and with Kim Krizan, the screenwriter for the first film featuring these two characters.
The film picks up the story in Before Sunrise of the young American man (Hawke) and French woman (Delpy) who spent a passionate night together in Vienna. Their paths intersect nine years later in Paris, and the film appears to take place in real time as they spend an afternoon together.
Before Sunset received broad critical acclaim and has appeared on many publications' lists of the best films of the 2000s. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The directors and lead actors collaborated on another film following these characters, Before Midnight, which was released in 2013 and also gained acclaim.
Nine years before, Jesse and Céline had met and had a brief encounter in Vienna. Jesse's new novel, This Time, was inspired by that night, and becomes a bestseller. He does a book tour in Europe, including Paris. He does a reading at the noted bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. Flashbacks express elements of his time with Céline in Vienna. Three journalists attend the reading to interview Jesse: one is convinced the book's main characters meet again, another that they do not, and a third who wants them to but is doubtful that will occur. As Jesse speaks with the audience, his eyes wander and he sees Céline there, smiling at him.
After the presentation, the bookstore manager reminds Jesse of his need to leave for the airport in about an hour for his plane. Céline and Jesse's time together is again constrained. They make the best of it, and their conversations become deeply personal. They begin with themes of work and politics and, with increasing passion, approach their earlier feelings for each other.