Before Midnight

Director: Richard Linklater

Year: 2013

Like many veteran filmmakers, Director Richard Linklater is increasingly showing his cards. He is at least deeply interested in, if not obsessed with, the role of compressed time in the visual medium. In essence, this review is part and parcel with the same idea since I watched and am reviewing Before Midnight (2013) after seeing Boyhood (2014) (and Before Sunset and Before Sunrise).

It is very difficult for most people to fully recognize or value the present. We measure by looking back. Some call this nostalgia, others history. Regardless, the gift Linklater has given us in this third installment of films is the passage of time in the relationship of Jesse (Ethan Hawke), Celine (Julie Delpy). They’re now early in their 40’s. They’re now committed to each other – miles apart from the dreamy idea of courtship or discovery. Though not married, they are a couple, with twin girls to sweeten the pot.

Because they are forced to be grounded and deal with one another, those who are married or in long-term relationships are able to engage and reflect with Jesse and Celine on a different level. The idea of what love is and what it becomes over time is poked, prodded and fought over. The spectral ends of their rawness with each other, stoked currently by Jesse’s son from his previous marriage now being a teenager and about to embark into his high school years in Chicago (half a world away from Paris), are on full display.

If any of that weren’t rich enough, there’s also the requisite beautiful European backdrop, previously staged in Vienna and Paris, but this time in Greece. The tragic and cultural history of the Greeks plays a central role as Jesse, a still successful author, and his family are the guests of an elder-statesman author. The story happens in six scenes, the third of which is an extensive dining scene where love, gender and relationships are the main courses. They are discussed, fascinatingly, across many cultural, age and gender perspectives. Interestingly, Jesse and Celine are in a position of listening more than they have in either of the previous two films, which may be a nod by Linklater toward their stage in life and relationship or a needed construct of the film to give them space and appropriate setup before getting to the devastating fifth act in a hotel room. They throw the familiar, painful and fascinating swings couples who are lost, scared and teetering on the brink do.

It’s so honest and well-performed that it’s easy to feel like you’re in the room with them – which is both appealing and appalling. The gift Linklater has given us in this trilogy is his dedication to time, truth and relationship. While he has said he hopes the films are standalone pieces, I can only speak to the experience I’ve had with them collectively to say they are breathtaking and deeply important works of art and humanity.

Resonance Rating: 4.5 out of 5