Before Sunset Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Before Sunset Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 26, 2017

Richard Linklater's "Before Sunset" (2004) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an archival featurette with cast and crew interviews; Louis Black's documentary "Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny" (2016); and new video essay by filmmaker :: kogonada. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay on the trilogy by critic Dennis Lim. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Older and wiser

This time the location is Paris. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) has come to promote his new book which chronicles his special encounter with Celine (Julie Delpy) nine years earlier in Vienna. He looks older and thinner, awkwardly nervous while clarifying to a young reporter whether the girl from the book is a real person.

Moments before his agent ends the event Jesse accidentally notices Celine, casually smiling at him. They quickly leave the vintage bookstore and decide to spend the rest of the day walking through the streets of Paris. There is so much to talk about, but Jesse has only a few hours left before he heads back to America where his publicity campaign will officially end.

At first the words don’t come out right because they are both reluctant to be honest with each other. But while they joke and laugh they gradually become more comfortable with each other and then more confident with their words. They remember how they felt the first time they met, and the promises they made before they parted ways.

By the time they reach Celine’s apartment their conversation evolves into a painfully honest confession. The jokes keep on coming, but the frequent awkward moments confirm their suspicions that their lives could have turned out so much better had they followed their hearts at the end of that beautiful night in Vienna. Before they part ways again, Celine reluctantly agrees to sing one of her favorite songs to Jesse. It is a simple song about a girl who once fell madly in love with a guy she barely knew.

The simplicity of the first film is retained, but here there is a completely different type of intimacy that exists between Jesse and Celine. A big chunk of it is rather awkward because throughout their long conversation a lot of their expressions and reactions frequently appear carefully calculated; many of the questions and answers also lack the raw spontaneity that made their initial encounter in Vienna look and feel so authentic. So in a way this long awaited romantic reunion actually ends up being a lot like a prearranged date between two grown-ups that know each other’s best moves and lines but for a fixed period of time choose to pretend that they are fully capable of delivering some genuine surprises. It can be quite entertaining at times but it clearly lacks the magic that the concept behind the reunion promises.

Unlike Vienna, Paris remains largely preoccupied with its daily rhythm. There are a few beautiful shots here and there, but they don’t create the impression that the city actually cares about Jesse and Celine’s encounter. In the first film Vienna temporarily evolves into an eager matchmaker, and for a while it really does feel like it is trying hard to make them realize that they were meant to be together.

Delpy wrote three songs for the film, including the beautiful song that she sings for Hawke at the very end.

Before Sunset Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Richard Linklater Before Sunset arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Before Sunrise and Before Sunset: These new digital transfers were created from 35mm interpositives and scanned in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner. Thousands of instances of dirt and debris were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, and noise management.

The original 2.0 surround soundtrack for Before Sunrise and the original 5.1 track for Before Sunset were remastered from 35mm Dolby A magnetic tracks. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play Before Sunrise's Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.

Scanning: Motion Pictures Imaging, Burbank, CA.
Transfer supervisor: Richard Linklater.
Colorist: Lee Kline, Ben Perez."

The release is sourced from a new, restored 2K digital transfer. The overwhelming majority of the film now looks sharper (not digitally sharpened) and frequently a lot more vibrant than it does on the initial DVD release from Warner Bros. Density is also dramatically improved, and where on the DVD release the image routinely appears fuzzy and flat, now there is good depth and plenty of minor details are actually easy to recognize. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections, though ideally grain could be better exposed. Even on very large screens, however, density remains very good and there are plenty of wonderful nuances that are very easy to appreciate. Colors are stable, healthy, and quite well balanced. Overall image stability is outstanding. There are no debris, dirt, cuts, damage marks, stains, or other distracting age-related imperfections. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Before Sunset Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Similar to Before Sunrise, this film does not have an aggressive soundtrack. In fact, excluding some random sounds and noises that occasionally interrupt Jesse and Celine's conversation, there isn't any meaningful external activity to speak of. Unsurprisingly, there isn't a great deal of dynamic intensity. The dialog is always stable, clean, and very easy to follow.

Before Sunset Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny - this documentary film takes a closer look at Richard Linklater's career and body of work as well as the evolution of his style and his success in the United States and abroad. Included in it are interviews with actors Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and Matthew McConaughey, filmmakers Kevin Smith and Jonathan Demme, writer John Pierson, editor Sandra Adair, Chuck Linklater (father), and Tricia Linklater (sister), amongst others. The documentary was directed by Louis Black for the PBS series American Masters in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (90 min, 1080p).

• Linklater // On Cinema & Time - presented here is a brand new video essay by filmmaker :: kogonada that examines the treatment of time and its evolving rhythm in Richard Linklater's films. In English, not subtitled. (9 min, 1080p)

• Behind the Scenes - presented here is a standard archival featurette with footage from the shooting of Before Sunset in Paris and short interviews with cast and crew members. In English, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay on the trilogy by critic Dennis Lim.

Before Sunset Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is not difficult to like Before Sunset but there is a different type of intimacy that exists in it, and the more one compares it to that from Before Sunrise, the clearer it becomes that very little of the magic from the first film is retained. The cynical realist in me is ready to argue that this is exactly how life is -- full of truly special moments while we are young and healthy and a little less magical when we grow older -- but the entire reunion does feel a bit like a carefully choreographed play. Regardless, if you enjoyed the first film you are certainly not going to be disappointed by the sequel, and this is probably what should matter the most to you. Criterion's technical presentation of the film is excellent. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.