Rakkautta ennen auringonlaskua

Before Sunset starts out as a disarming conversational summary of the thoughts I wake up and fall asleep with every day. It later becomes a terribly likeable and scintillating conversational “romance” with an applause-worthy ending. Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are simply divine! (05.07.2004)

I have the opposite experience with Linklater's film trilogy than most other viewers. I didn't watch the first part and I gave the second a chance, but I didn't find any great enchantment in it, and it was only the last part that really interested me. With the exception of the opening scene in the bookstore, Before Sunset can be considered an endless dialogue between two people, where the scenery changes only a few times in 80 minutes. I have always liked dialogue-driven films, but here I feel that Linklater is testing the limits of my patience. The conversations between the duo in search of each other in the second part are not as narratively banal as in the first, but I don't find any depth in them by any means. Overall impression: 55%. (29.04.2018)

I saw it shortly after finishing Before Sunrise, and at first I was a little scared that they wouldn't be able to recreate the atmosphere. Fortunately, every sentence spoken gains meaning over time, every casual conversation takes on a different dimension, and suddenly Celine is saying, "I was fine until I read your fucking book!" and I break down into molecules just like Jesse. The second viewing elevates Richard Linklater's work to the unforgettable, and with its more mature but no less magical storytelling spirit, it manages to grab the viewer and fill them to the brim with emotions and experiences. (30.01.2006)

Even though the film is only 80 minutes long, I got pretty bored at times. Some of the dialogue was rather uninteresting. Maybe it was because I hadn't seen Before Sunrise and had nothing to draw on. On the other hand, I like how realistically it's filmed. I'm not a big fan of Julie Delpy, but she works well here. Both act naturally and handle their roles well. 3.5 stars. (30.11.2011)

I'll admit I haven't seen the first movie this one follows. But since this one only loosely follows it, it doesn't matter. I wasn't bored. I enjoyed watching them, listening to them. The whole movie I was tense about how it would end up, because sometimes the expressions the actors threw around were completely ambiguous... :-D Weaker 4* (17.09.2010)