Richard Linklater
-
2001
When I saw this film the first time around, I had no idea who
Jesse and
Celine were. After watching
Before Sunrise, I thought back over the Linklater films I'd seen and remembered a scene between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy from this film and it dawned on me who those characters were. So, I decided to check out the film again.
The first time I saw this film, I complained that it talked about what it was about instead of showing what it was about. I still agree with that assessment, despite the eye candy to be found on screen. If you haven't seen the film or clips, Linklater used animation to create a fresh and interesting look for the film. He shot and edited the whole film with live actors and then used an enormous cadre of artists to
rotoscope the footage to create the final product. It is a shimmering account of a man's life inside of his dream world. The problem I have is that the basic formula is not much different than the "Before" films. It is mostly talking heads or monologues. Even with the lovely technique Linklater used, it is still mostly shots of people talking.
It sure was fun to see what Jesse and Celine had to say to each other. Part of me wonders where this film fits into the timeline created in the live action films, but it's all just a big dream anyway, isn't it?