Before Sunset
1. Write the verbs in the correct tense.
Nine years (pass) ___________ since the events of Before Sunrise, when Jesse (Ethan
Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) (meet) ___________ in Vienna. Since then, Jesse
(write) ____________ a novel, This Time, inspired by his time in Vienna with Celine,
and the book (become) ____________ a minor success, with Jesse doing a book tour.
The last stop of the tour across Europe (be) ____________ Paris, and Jesse (do)
____________ a reading at the bookstore Shakespeare and Company. As Jesse (talk)
__________ with his audience, flashbacks (see) __________ of him and Celine in
Vienna; the memories of their night together have clearly remained with him despite it
being nine years later. Celine (appear) ___________ in the audience and (see)
_________ him and he, in turn, (recognize) __________ her. Jesse (have) __________
a short time before his plane (depart) __________, and invites Celine to share it with
him.
As they talk, each reveals what (happen) ____________ since their first meeting. Both
(be) ___________ now in their mid thirties. Jesse, now a writer, (be) __________
married and has a son. Celine (become) ___________ an advocate for the environment,
lived in America for a time, and has a boyfriend, a photojournalist. It becomes clear in
the course of their talk, both are dissatisfied to varying degrees with their lives. Jesse
(reveal) ____________ that the only reason that he (remain) __________ married is
how much he loves his son. Celine says that she does not see her boyfriend very much
because he is so often on assignment.
As they recall their prior meeting in Vienna, they slowly approach the subject of why
they (not meet) ____________ as promised, six months after their first encounter. It
turns out that Jesse (return) ___________ to Vienna, as promised, but Celine did not,
because her grandmother (suddenly die) _____________ before the scheduled date of
the meeting. Because Jesse and Celine (never exchange) ____________ addresses, there
(be) ___________ no way for them to communicate with each other and to learn what
the other was doing, or what had happened.
Their conversation as they traverse Paris places them in various venues, including a
café, a garden, a bateau mouche, and Jesse's hired car for his stay in Paris. Their old
feelings for each other (be) __________ slowly rekindled, even with tension and regret
over the missed meeting earlier, as they realize that nothing else in their lives (match)
____________ their one prior night together in Vienna. Jesse even (admit) __________
that he (write) _____________ the book in the distant hope of meeting Celine again one
day. She says that she felt pain from reading his book. At one point, in the hired car,
during a tense moment when Jesse is angry, Celine reaches her hand out to touch Jesse,
but pulls back just as he turns to her.
In the concluding scene, Celine and Jesse arrive at her apartment. Jesse (put)
__________ a CD by Nina Simone on the stereo system. Celine (dance) ____________
by herself to the song "Just in Time" as Jesse watches her. As Celine imitates Nina
Simone, she slowly says to Jesse:
"Baby ... you are gonna miss that plane."
As the camera slowly (pan) ___________ in, Jesse looks like a man gloriously happy
for the first time in years, and he responds simply with
"I know."
2. Write true or false.
a. The book Jesse has written is a combination of Celine’s story and another
woman he met on another trip.
b. Jesse had not expecting to see Celine ever again, which is why he wrote the
book.
c. Celine moved from the USA because her house was broken into.
d. Jesse has two sons.
e. Celine is not married.
f. Jesse’s plane leaves the day they reunite.
g. Celine has a dog called ‘Che’.
h. Jesse has been in Europe for only two days.
i. Celine lives in Vienna now.
j. Celine never went to Vienna because her grandmother died around that time.
k. Jesse never went to Vienna because he was getting married that day.
l. At the end of the film, Jesse doesn’t want to leave Celine.
3. Write a review of the film Before Sunset. Give your personal opinion of the film,
whether positive or negative. Use the information on REVIEWS available on the book.
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