It is a rare film that causes its audience to cherish every second of its duration as a unique and inimitable creation; a rarer film still that makes the same viewers crave a never-ending relationship with its protagonists at the same time. Writer/director Richard Linklater (Bernie) and his co-scribes and stars Julie Delpy (2 Days in New York) and Ethan Hawke (Sinister) have managed this extraordinary feat not once, nor twice, but on three separate occasions – in the nine-year-apart instalments of their famed romantic trilogy.
When we first met idealistic dreamer Jesse (Hawke) and impassioned firebrand Celine (Delpy) on a train to Vienna in 1995’s Before Sunrise, their lives were spread out in front of them, their night together a fleeting exchange in exciting futures to come. In our second visit with the duo in 2004’s Paris-set Before Sunset, their innocence had been tempered by the harsh realities of forging their adult identities, both melancholy with scars of personal and professional failings. Now, in 2013’s Before Midnight, their tryst has been tied to a shared existence and a summer sojourn on the Greek Peloponnese peninsula. Jesse and Celine are older and wiser, but still cognisant of the ephemeral nature of their relationship.
At the heart of these organic, authentic films sits the easy rapport between Hawke and Delpy, the features essentially two-handers of witty bickering and wistful conversation. That dynamic not only remains in the latest addition to their enduring tale, but has become deeper with the passing of time, viewers receiving the benefit of the actors’ increasing familiarity and chemistry. In Before Midnight, their lingering glances simmer with communal history, just as their feisty banter is informed by emotions of the past. The audience has been fortunate to experience these moments with the characters, and now shares the angst-ridden, age-driven, affectionate outcome.
Smartly and shrewdly, Linklater allows his talented leads to guide the action, yet his directorial hand is far from passive. Knowing that watching the couple spar verbally is at the feature’s emphatic core, he forever frames their walking and talking with fluidity and energy; similarly, his long-take visualisations of their static altercations are both expressive and artful. The helmer also succeeds in the major departure from the earlier films – the evident, unavoidable drama. As the optimism of young love gives way to the frustrations of middle age, Linklater immerses in the festering feelings from several decades, arguments, abrasiveness and all.
And yet, Before Midnight never succumbs to the morose or melodramatic, every element of Jesse and Celine’s interactions ringing true. With each film in the series, Hawke and Delpy prove that they’ve never been better, nor has their ability to elicit pathos, poignancy, hope and heartbreak been as precise. If this is their final dalliance, the gentle, generous effort completes the magic, and shows the perils that exist behind even the most perfect romance. Of course, the conclusion seethes with longing; of this insightful and intelligent love story, there’ll always be a yearning for more.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Before Midnight
Director: Richard Linklater
USA, 2013, 109 mins
Release date: 18 July
Distributor: Hopscotch
Rated: MA
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