Before Sunrise/Before Sunset

When asked to pick my 5 favorite films of all time for Images Cinema’s newsletter, I went with the old warhorses, Truffaut’s Jules and Jim, Renoir’s Grand Illusion, Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, and Bergman’s Persona, but just to indicate I wasn’t a total old fogey, I made my final pick Richard Linklater’s more recent series of films about Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). Having just watched the 1995 original for at least the fourth time and the 2004 sequel for the second, I’m here to confirm my choice. Both films rate a *10* in my book, but are so intimate I can hardly comment. All I can do is urge you to see them, or see them again. If you don’t love them, never take my word about movie recommendations again, because to me these small but perfect gems are what filmmaking is all about. The Godfather saga may paint a bigger canvas, but no other series of films is more stimulating or satisfying. If you think my enthusiasm is idiosyncratic, I point to Before Sunset's cumulative scores of 90 on Metacritic and 94 on Rotten Tomatoes.