Before Sunset

Maybe it is the hopeful romantic in me, but after we watched “Before Sunrise” I wrote in my blog post that I thought Jesse and Celine would meet up six months later.  I truly felt like both of the characters made such a connection in Vienna during the one night they had with each other, so I was so surprised and a little disheartened to find out that they did not end up meeting each other and in fact, it took nine years for them to see each other again.  As it would turn out, Celine could not meet up with Jesse in Vienna when they were supposed to because her grandmother passed away shortly before they were supposed to meet up and because they did not exchange phone numbers, she was unable to call Jesse and tell him that.  Since Jesse and Celine did not meet up, they continued their lives without each other.  Jesse got married, had a son, and wrote a bestselling novel based on his time with Celine.  Celine, on the other hand, has a boyfriend and is a photojournalist and environmental activist.  Because Jesse is on a book tour in Paris, he has to catch a plane an hour later after meeting up with Celine again, so the two only have a short time to connect again like their first meeting.  I think that time plays a huge factor with these two characters.  In the first film, the couple only had a night to spend time together before they had to part again.  In this film, the couple only had an hour before Jesse’s plane to go back to the United States.  Because the couple always has a restricted time allotted to them, they have to get down to their core and show who they really are.  This says a lot about how sometimes traditional dating is not always the best approach.  When people usually date, they are expected to be dating for a year before they can be serious and in love, however, this is not always realistic.  Traditional dating leaves a lot of room for “fluff” because you can pretend about who you are and not be as up front.  Whereas, Jesse and Celine have to be straightforward with each other because they have no choice and they find true love.  An example of this “love at first sight” concept can be seen with Khloe Kardashian.  She made headlines in magazines all over the world when she met her now husband and married him thirty days later.  Khloe Kardashian was scrutinized for this in the media because society does not accept love that is not traditional.  However, there is no traditional way for people to fall in love, which is shown with Jesse and Celine.  Also, another important idea of time in the films is that it relates to love in general.  Just like how Jesse and Celine were constricted with time, couples in general are restricted in time.  People never know when their life will end, and so it is important for people to love when they are given the opportunity to even if it does not last.  Jesse and Celine did not know for sure if they would ever see each other again, but they loved each other anyways in the time they had because when it comes to love, time should never be wasted.