Title: The Before Trilogy
Year(s): 1995 - 2013
Director: Richard Linklater
Country: US
Language: English
When Before Midnight (2013) was released I was a year younger than Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) were in Before Sunrise (1995). I didn't watch Before Midnight in theatres, because I had made it a goal to see the other two films first for context. For various reasons I kept putting off viewing the trilogy - until a decade later. Now I am the age Celine & Jesse were in Before Sunset (2004), and I feel like I have the maturity to appreciate Linklater's masterful works.
In Before Sunrise (1995), Celine (Julie Delpy) & Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meet on a train and spend one evening together in Vienna.
In Before Sunset (2004), Celine & Jesse meet again on the French leg of Jesse's Book Tour.
In Before Midnight (2013), we meet Celine & Jesse nine years later in Greece. Two decades have passed since their initial meeting on a train.
Each film in The Before Trilogy is a view into various stages of life; focusing on the opportunities and tribulations of adulthood through the decades. Linklater provides a unique, sweeping experience that gives us the full scope of adult romance; contrasting fantasies with the realities of falling in love.
The script in each installment of The Before Trilogy is remarkable. The dialogue is heavy with introspective substance, as our characters contemplate time, mortality, dreams, and politics. The conversations are so intriguing that you won't want Jesse & Celine to stop talking. Yet even when they don't speak to each other we get heart stopping scenes such as when they are in a record store booth in Before Sunrise.
Sharp, biting, intelligent, funny and filled to the brim with subtext, The Before Trilogy consists of three masterpieces that feel honest and real. I do think Before Sunrise & Before Sunset are the stronger films, but it's still a great trilogy overall. Before Midnight keeps the story from being too Hollywood-ized.
Before Sunrise: 5 out of 5
Before Sunset: 4 out of 5
Before Midnight: 4 out of 5
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