SPOILER ALERT – Fans of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, beware and scroll to the end!
If half of lovers’ arguments could go the way of those played out in Before Midnight, couples could feel satisfaction in knowing that they were very articulate. Set in the idyllic Grecian peninsula of Peloponnese, we revisit characters Jesse and Celine, played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy respectively.
Part of what has kept audiences coming back for the past eighteen years has been due to the sense of urgency present in Before Sunrise and Before Midnight. With each second that the characters spent connecting with each other just brings them closer to being broken apart. Time is used in a more agonizing way in this film. Watching the conversations unfold just as effortlessly as when we first met them in Vienna, the obstacle in this third chapter is not that Jesse and Celine are running out of time, but that they have too much of it.
Nine years have passed since credits rolled on Jesse missing his plane to be with Celine. As one of the best romantic pairings in cinematic history, the couple is shown in Before Midnight as evidence of long term romance by deftly illustrating the struggles that come with maintaining it. The trio collaborated on the screenplay for Before Sunset and do so again in the newest sequel. While every line is supposedly scripted, if the mannerisms and delivery seem hard to distinguish from the actors themselves—it’s partially because Hawkes and Delpy have both modelled their characters off themselves.
The result is a reality driven film that offers a painstaking study of a relationship evolved over the course of real time, rather than a study of a flirtation that started and paused for a two-day duration over the course of nearly a decade. Jesse and Celine are now officially together. Structured once again over the span of a day, we get another glimpse into their lives, but this time with what it means to keep a relationship alive and not a fantasy.
At the recent premiere screening of Before Midnight at the Tribeca Film Festival this past April, the natural rapport between Linklater and his two actors during the post-film Q & A was obvious.
END OF SPOILERS – If you’re a longtime fan of the first two installments and want a review void of any kind of plot point, then here it is: Before Midnight is set in beautiful Greece where we once again meet Celine and Jesse, nine years after the latter missed his plane. The film that unfolds is completely amazing and fantastic.
Who Should See It – Those who have been waiting since the age before smartphones to find out what happened after that missed plane.
Who Shouldn’t See It – Those who are into fast-paced, plot driven films. Like the first two installments, the threequel is brimming with intricately constructed dialogue honed over two decades.
by Sandy Chung
