Movie Review : Before Sunset

There are some movies which have received universal acceptance as being extremely touching or extremely moving. Then there are some movies which have not yet attained that cult status, and yet when you saw them, they left a deep impression on your mind. According to me, "Before Sunset" is just such a movie.

"Before Sunset" (BS2) is the sequel to "Before Sunrise". I had watched the first movie almost two years ago. "Before Sunrise" (BS1) had ended on a predominantly melancholy note, but it also left a hint of hope. Thus when I started watching BS2, I was eager and anxious to know the fate of its' protagonists.

SPOILER : Plot details follow. Please note that people have not seen this movie and enjoy romantic things should first see both the movies before reading on.

In BS1, two people meet up as complete strangers on a train, and decide to spend the few hours till the next train, together. From evening till dawn, they roam the beautiful streets of Vienna, talking about each other's lives. There are some intimate moments too. At daybreak, according to their previously agreed arrangement, they part. Hence the melancholy. They promise to meet up in Vienna exactly after one year. Hence the hope. However, they do not exchange any contact details, fearing that such formalities might ruin the romance that had built up in their brief encounter. Hence the sequel.

BS2 takes us through the day in the lives of this same couple when they meet up seven years after that first meet. (For some reason, the girl - Julie Delpy - had been unable to keep the promised appointment in Vienna, even though she desperately wanted to.) As the movie progresses, we get to know what all happended in these two peoples' lives in the last seven years. Ethan Hawke is married, but is totally incompatible with his wife. He spent four of the last seven years writing a book on that one night in Vienna. His book became popular, which prompted his trip to Paris. Julie Delpy has a boyfriend but there's something missing in the relationship. At one point in the movie, Julie breaks down at the fact that all the guys she once thought of marrying, now were returning to her after getting married themselves. Finally, they both agree that the one night they spent together was so romantic, so perfect - that none have been able to love anyone else so perfectly after that.

The movie is about two adults trying to cope up with the whims and fancies of life which brought them together yet kept them apart. The end of the movie, which I shall not divulge, was such that it left me confused and angry. Can grown-up mature people act like this? And if circumstances make people behave in such a manner, why should fate conspire to create such circumstances.

Love, I believe, should create beautiful things. However, I failed to catch any ray of hope at the end of the movie. Or was I too obtuse? I certainly hope so.