It’s been 18 years since Jesse and Celine got off that train
together in Vienna. And in BEFORE
MIDNIGHT, written and directed by Richard Linklater and starring Ethan Hawke
and Julie Delpy, both who also co-wrote the screenplay, we meet up with the
couple once again.
Before Sunrise was about youth and dreaming and the idea of
falling in love the way young people fantasize about it.
Before Sunset was about two dreamers who had one night
together who are now in different places in their lives finding each other once
again.
Before Midnight asks us and them, can love really last? That is one of many questions and idea’s
raised in the latest film. All three
films are “conversation” films. They are about people talking and in this third
installment we get to hear more than just Jesse and Celine talk about sex,
love, life and death, but ultimately we get to be alone with them again. Only this time the once innocent dreamers of
love and life are now weighted down by the complexities of life. Jesse is divorced and has a kid he only see’s
during the summer. His ex-wife is angry
that Jesse fell in love with Celine and left her. Celine is at a crossroads in her own life.
The two of them have twin daughters now and Celine is wrestling between being a
“domesticated” housewife and her independence as a woman in the working
world.
The conflict in Before Midnight is that Jesse feels guilty
over not being a presence in his son’s life.
Celine fears this is the beginning of the end. Jesse was always an optimist while Celine was
always a pessimist, but they made it work.
But tough life choices now interfere with the happy ending that we all
want love to have. What makes this film
work is its honesty about how love is a feeling that we navigate through when
life happens. And sometimes life is unforgiving, unrelenting and just plain
tough.
Both are now past 40, and are so far removed from their
youth and innocence. They feel the
pressures of being a parent, being a spouse but also being true to
themselves. What we see for the first
time is these lovers arguing. And they
spend a great deal of the film arguing.
But it’s that arguing that makes us wonder if they are going to make it. It’s that arguing that makes us think about
the love’s we’ve had and lost as well as the divorces and heartaches we
ourselves have endured. We want them to
stay together because that fits the fantasy, but will they?
The film, as with the other two, ends on an ambiguous
note. There is a great likelihood they
will not survive. Will Jesse really
sacrifice what he feels his son needs in order to stay with Celine? Will Celine understand the importance of
Jesse being a father to his son and move back to the States with him, or will
they split up?
The three films feel like Apted’s, “Up” series where we
revisit the same people ever few years to see where life has taken them. Sometimes life has been kind, other times
life has been difficult and unforgiving.
Jesse is complacent with Celine, but Celine seems fidgety. She’s always been that way. What’s so great about these films is that
these characters are so three dimensional, and each sequel has shown a great
dedication in staying true to these characters.
What’s difficult about Before Midnight is too watch and
listen to Jesse and Celine being mean and angry toward each other. But even the most connected couples have
moments and periods of disgust, disdain and resentment toward one another. Love is not easy and it’s not promised to be
there tomorrow. But it is worth fighting
for. And we get a sense as the camera
fades that this couple will fight to stay together.
Sure it doesn’t end as sweet and beautiful as the previous
two installments, but it does end honestly.
And the viewer, as with the previous two films, is asked to look inside
themselves for what they believe. The
pessimist will believe this couple is doomed. The optimist will believe this
couple will survive, and the realist will believe anything is possible. We take our own experiences into these films
and either connect to their experiences in our own way, or feel disconnected.
I cannot recall any other films that have given so much pure
sincerity and asked for the viewer to search within themselves for what they
believe love is. I personally hope they
make it, but I fear they won’t.
