It’s rare that a film shows us true, enduring love. We’ve seen plenty of romantic movies in which love endures the obstacles of distance or time, and they almost always end with the couple finally getting together and presumably living happily ever after. But what we don’t frequently see is love enduring itself. Romantic films tend to be about “getting together.” Before Midnight is about “staying together.”
The third part in what director Richard Linklater calls his “accidental trilogy,” Before Midnight picks up nine years after the second film – Before Sunset – and 18 years after the first – Before Sunrise. If you haven’t seen the first two (like me), have no fear, as Before Midnight is a remarkable stand-alone film and an early candidate for Best Picture.
The film begins with Jesse (Ethan Hawke) dropping his son Hank (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) off at the airport after spending the summer in Greece. A native Texan, Jesse left his wife and son nine years before to be with the love of his life, Celine (Julie Delpy), in Paris. The pair first met 18 years prior on a train to Vienna, and ended up spending one magical day together. After a chance reconnection during Jesse’s international book tour, the two stayed together and started a family of their own. Though he loves his two daughters and adores Celine, Jesse finds himself thinking of Hank a lot lately. He hates only seeing him during the summer and wishes he could be more of a permanent fixture in his life. This small feeling lays the groundwork for the dramatic bulk of Before Midnight. Jesse suggests in a cloaked manner that he and Celine should discuss moving to Chicago so he can be closer to Hank. Celine, recently offered her dream job and not keen on living in the US, is resistant.
Before Midnight is an immensely relatable vignette of love and the things that seek to disrupt it. Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke (the three of whom co-wrote all three films) have brilliantly captured the essence of disagreement in long-term relationships. The problem starts small and ignorable – mentioned jocularly in passing during a dinner with friends – but eventually becomes something potentially devastating. It’s not until your screaming in the face of your loved one that you realize that the little problem has been eating the both of you up inside. I’ve seen it happen and I’m sure it will happen to me (preferably not), and these writers know that these are the moments when relationships are made or broken.
by Nick DeNitto
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