The Midday Reflection: Before Sunset

B.   The Midday Reflection: Before Sunset

9 years later, Jesse and Céline reconnect.

Jesse wrote a book named “this time”, reflecting on his encounter with Céline and their time together in Vienna and is on a book tour.

In Paris, Céline attends the reading of the book and the two use whatever time Jesse has before having to catch his plane, wandering in the city and talking.

The movie does not really expand on this but to me it is really important, I wonder how Jesse talked about their brief time, how he talked about Céline, how he described her…

If anyone knows me they know how I despise when one writes something about someone else and shares it to the world without their consent, I feel like it automatically creates a power imbalance and disequilibrium, and it creeps me out when someone doesn’t involve the subject of their writing into the process, even more when no consent was given to publish, and because again, unless you’re writing about love, if you write about someone in a way in which you analyse them or give a psychological intake about them then I feel like you put the other person in a lower position than yours and esteem yourself better and more intelligent than them, that you have used them for your project, that every memory you shared had an analytic perspective and intention, that you know more than they know, that you were studying them, that they were a case and that you eventually objectified them.

The two pick up right where they left things, and if I had to give a theme to this movie, it would be “lost opportunities and second chances”.

We discover that Jesse is married, which to me is a big red flag, makes me dislike him even more and proves my point about him already discussed in part A of this essay.

Unhappily married, stagnant in his marriage and with a kid, Jesse finds himself still reminiscing about his memories with Céline with unresolved feelings towards her, which drives me crazy because why is he married, with a child while he is still not over a woman he met in the past and which triggers my cheating detector’s radars. He goes as far as to admitting that he was thinking about her before his wedding, which sure, must be immensely romantic when you only take in consideration Jesse and Céline, but is straight out infidelity when you bring his wife into perspective.

 Jesse does not think of divorce because he was a child of divorce and fears its impact on his kid along with other “practical considerations” which I assume are financial for example since divorces are costly.

Céline is dating somebody but isn’t really fulfilled in her relationship either, she also gives the impression that she has developed an avoidant attachment style, which is understandable since she has lingering feelings for Jesse too after their night in Vienna. She mentions how she misses him and how vividly she remembers every detail about him.

The topic of the meeting that was supposed to happen 6 months after their Vienna adventure was brought us and it was a big surprise to me that Jesse actually kept his word, but unfortunately for the two of them, the meeting didn’t happen since Céline’s grandma died at that same time.

Both in their thirties, separately, they are lacking romance in their lives and are more entrapped in commitment. Jesse seems to me more acceptant of his faith but Céline is angry and disturbed.

None of them seem to have moved on from the past, Céline shows signs of melancholy and she grapples and wrestles with the consequences of missed opportunities and the complexities of adult life and has to face that her past relationships were not fulfilling or satisfying while also feeling envious of her exes who got to feel their closures, move on and build new relationships.

Jesse on the other hand, as the movie keeps unfolding, is under pressure, torn between his present life and responsibilities and the possibility to rekindle the past romance and retrieve what he has lost for the past 9 years.

We see that there was space for character development for the two, as they become more mature, Jesse is calmer, Céline is more unnerved, which I think surprises Jesse at first. They have also grown to become more nostalgic and regretful for the past and for what could have been. While the first movie is exploratory, the second one feels more like a reflection. Both of them are reflecting fondly and yearn for the bygone days, which is something Céline expresses so softly in her song about their shared night.

It does make me wonder often, what could have happened if Céline and Jesse did meet in fact 6 months later, on December 16th, would they have still liked each other, would they be as intensely as they were into each other? Wouldn’t they have felt disappointed, and that may be the whole charm of whatever was going on between them was only a consequence of the nature of the doomed to end short relationship? And what would have happened if one of them got into a relationship back in that time?

Anyway, at the end of the movie, it is implied that Jesse will miss his plane and is choosing to stay with Céline, which is a thrilling happy ending for so many reasons, I am glad they get a happy ending, because by extension it gives us a happy ending too, and because I am happy for the idea that Jesse may be getting a divorce and I am genuinely convinced that his wife deserves better because their marriage’s bone is flawed with Jesse’s insincerity and infidelity.