When you think of great film trilogies, you probably think of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” adaptation or the original “Star Wars” movies — but if Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy doesn’t immediately come to mind as well, you should definitely take some time to check out this stunning, deeply emotional, and brilliantly filmed movies centering on two lovers at various points throughout their lives.
Based on a real experience in Linklater’s life (specifically, a night where he and a woman he’d just met wandered through the city of Philadelphia and talked until the sun rose), the first “Before” movie, 1995’s appropriately titled “Before Sunrise,” opens on a European train and introduces us to Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy). Both are leaving Budapest and, after striking up a conversation, they impulsively both leave the train in Vienna, walking through the gorgeous Austrian capital and talking about life, love, art, and everything else. So, how did a movie with this small of a scale become a trilogy, and what’s the correct order (since none of the titles feature numbers to help guide you)? The order, for your edification, is “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset,” and “Before Midnight,” but let me get a little more in-depth about what each movie entails … and why there’s a nine-year gap between each of Linklater’s “Before” films.
The Before films were shot in real time — and across several decades
After spending a full night and early morning together in Vienna in “Before Sunrise,” Jesse and Céline are forced to part ways as Céline has to head back to Paris to see her grandmother (and return to school), but the two make a pact and decide to meet each other at the same train station in Vienna in six months’ time. Unfortunately, as we learn in “Before Sunset,” this doesn’t happen; in the 2004 sequel, we meet up with Jesse and Céline again in Paris, as the former does a reading of his latest book at the city’s famous bookstore Shakespeare & Co. and Céline, living in Paris, attends the reading (much to Jesse’s surprise). (Also, the book in question, “This Time,” is about their night in Vienna.) As the two former lovers explore a different European capital, the audience learns that Céline stood Jesse up all those years ago, and that he was waiting in Vienna for her — even though he lies at first and says he didn’t either. (Céline’s grandmother passed away, forcing her to stay in Paris.)
Despite the fact that Jesse is married and has a child and Céline is dating a journalist in Paris, the bond between the two is as strong as ever, and when it comes time for Jesse to head to the airport and fly back to America, he finds himself at Céline’s apartment instead. The two make no moves towards the airport, proving that nine years after their first meeting, Jesse and Céline’s connection is unstoppable. In keeping with the nine years between “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset,” the third film, “Before Midnight,” was also shot and takes place nine years after the preceding entry in the trilogy.
The final (?) Before movie came out in 2013 — and showed the difficulties in Jesse and Celine’s marriage
If “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset” offer stunningly romantic and heightened looks at courtship, “Before Midnight,” made and set nine years after Jesse misses his flight in Céline’s apartment, is a much starker glimpse at the couple’s life together. By the time “Before Midnight” begins, Jesse and Céline are parents of twin girls — all while Jesse struggles to maintain a relationship with his son from his first marriage, Hank (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), who lives in Chicago with his mother. Hank leaves Jesse, Céline, and the girls in Greece early in the film and heads home as the two grapple with some huge life decisions, including what’s next for Céline’s career … and when Jesse suggests that their family simply move to Chicago to be closer to Hank, an enormous fight erupts that seems as if it was years in the making.
“Before Midnight” is a raw, unflinching look at what happens after the “happily ever after,” and it’s absolutely worth a watch; Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who also co-wrote all three of the “Before” films with Richard Linklater, are superb as their self-made, lived in characters, who love each other but find themselves fully at odds. So, will there ever be a fourth “Before” movie? Linklater has indicated that it’s a possibility, but for now, fans have three perfect films to watch (in the correct order).
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