ABSTRACT
Celine and Jesse meet in 1995, when they are both in their twenties, on a train bound for Vienna. The movie Before Sunrise (Linklater, 1995) takes place over the course of one night, when both believe they will never see each other again. When they reach Vienna, Jesse convinces Celine to disembark with him, and they roam together around the city, talking about life, love, religion, and their observations of the city. Celine is a funny young woman with a promising future, and they spend the whole night walking through the streets, discussing whether or not they should sleep together. The film ends the next day at the train station, where the two hastily decide not to exchange any contact information but instead agree to meet at the same place in six months’ time. But that never happens, we learn nine years later in Before Sunset (Linklater, 2004), when Celine and Jesse’s paths intersect again. Jesse is now the novelist of an American bestseller who flies to Paris to promote his book, and Celine shows up at his talk in a local Parisian bookstore. Celine and Jesse are both now in their early thirties. Jesse is married and has a son; Celine has become an environmental activist and has a boyfriend. They spend the day together in Paris, walking around and talking, and each reveals what has happened in their lives since their last meeting. Both feel unfulfilled in their lives, and their physical and emotional attraction is intense and overwhelming. The movie ends with Jesse sitting on the couch in Celine’s apartment, about to miss his plane. We don’t know, did he end up missing his flight? Did he stay with her?
