Before Midnight (2013) - Directed by Richard Linklater

It’s no secret at this point that I’m a huge fan of Linklater’s “Before” series. I’ve written essays on the first two brilliant films, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. I’ve even declared my affinity for Julie Delpy in my essay on her wonderfully screwball 2 Days in New York. So perhaps I’m already coming into this newest addition to the Before series with rose-colored glasses on. At this point I’m not really sure I’d ever have a negative reaction to any of these films. Why? I simply like these people, Celine and Jesse far too much to not enjoy hanging out with them and seeing what they’re up to every 9-10 years. With this third film, the full force and weight of accumulated fictional stories of these two characters, coupled with our growing cinematic memories of them (and our own simultaneous ways in which we relate to their experiences) are beginning to take on a life of their own. Although it is the 3^rd film in the series, it’s actually beginning to feel less like a series and more like one long film. It’s hard to imagine now any of the films by themselves, as each of them comment upon, build upon, and re imagine elements of each on an ongoing basis. To say which one is better is almost sacrilege to me….they’re all really pieces of one story.

Spoilers ahead….Before Midnight continues the saga and twisting/turning relationship of Celine and Jesse, two young people we met back in 1995 in Before Sunrise, as they spent a night together falling in love, before parting. They of course found each other again 9 years later in Before Sunset, elaborating on their life stories and how they diverged and joined together again. Now in Before Midnight we find them in Greece on holiday at the age of about 41. They’ve been a couple together for 9 years (haven’t married) and have twin girls. Jesse is still a writer and Celine continues her political involvement and activism. We follow them for an afternoon, evening, and night in which they chat about current parenting challenges, career challenges and relationship challenges. They engage in a robust dinner discussion at the villa where they are staying with other guests. We follow them on a long walk through Greek ruins and a nearby town on their way to a hotel stay that has been gifted to them as a break from their kids by another couple, and finally we witness an epic argument in the denouement at the hotel room as they discuss regrets about the past, dissatisfaction of the current state, apprehension on the part of Celine regarding Jesse’s wish to be involved in his son’s life (from a previous marriage), how to reconcile these wishes with Celine’s desire to take her dream job and ultimately questions of whether Celine and Jesse still in fact love each other.

Continuing the sharp and crackling dialogue from the previous two films, it’s clear that Linklater, Delpy and Hawke spend a good deal of time fleshing out the script. According to some articles that I’ve read, they take current experiences in their life and put them into the script and into their characters until things come together in a way that they’re all comfortable with. It’s clear that Celine and Jesse are who we thought they were. If we saw Celine in prior films as an independent feminist with high aspirations who can be sexually headstrong, but has a self-consciousness that makes her paranoid at times, it’s comforting to know that’s who she still is. If we saw Jesse as a hopeless romantic, who idealized love,  who had a perpetual boyishness about him and an almost too-honest approach, it’s who he still is now. This continuity of characterization both through mannerisms and through their speech is what ties all of these films and moments together. The script is dense with information as usual. In brief,seemingly off-handed moments, we get glimpses and pieces of information that help us as the audience piece the entire previous 9 years together. The instances are almost too numerous to count: moments that explain their reuniting, Jesse’s divorce, Celine’s pregnancy, their living in New York and then Paris etc. etc.  but all of this is handled so deftly that it avoids obviousness. This film, even more than the others, is woven with a biting and sarcastic wit throughout. Even in distressing moments, like the final argument, there is a startling and darkly comic streak running through, as often the jokes are at the other’s expense this time, whereas in the other two films, their jokes often avoided getting personal as they were still trying to impress each other. Here, they are in a full fledged relationship and they know each other well. So instead of just getting to know one another, the script allows now for deeper reflection on aging, parenting, death, career, the concept of love, marriage and lasting relationships, the concept of the self, the divide between men and women. When one considers the amount of information told through words here, the depth of characterization expressed through the words and also the pessimistic comedic strain and the damaging relational blows struck, it’s hard not to stand up and applaud the writing. It’s probably going to be my favorite screenplay of the year. Even more than in the previous films, the passing of the years and seasons is of high importance, with Celine and Jesse even commenting on how they demark time in their own minds. In this way, the elegance with which the film broaches topics of love coinciding with mortality has taken on a bitter sweetness that reaches a sort of pinnacle. 

I think my favorite thing of all about this film and actually the entire series itself, is the fact that I simply ENJOY spending time with Celine and Jesse. I really like them and could watch them do anything for any period of time together. This fits my definition of the hang-out movie. I simply love watching them interact and feel like I know them as an actual people. This type of pay-off does not come without significant investment. It’s clear that Linklater, Delpy and Hawke come at this incredibly serious about the whole endeavor. It never feels forced, maligned or insignificant. But they approach the concept of each new film with a high degree of dedication and respect for the characters, the films, and the audience who watches. They all seem fully invested in how these films turn out and are fully committed to keeping these films as honest as possible. It seems that Before Midnight is getting supreme amounts of acclaim, to the degree that they have not seen before with the previous two. Any praise they get, surely has become cumulative as their investment in this concept of Celine and Jesse as time passes, has been sustained so remarkably it’s time to recognize their efforts. If they never make another film, I will feel that these 3 films are complete together. But if they do make another one, I will be first in line to see it.

2 Days in New York (2012) - Directed by Julie Delpy

If I measured my favorite films of 2012 by how much fun I had watching them, this film would be very near the top. Julie Delpy’s somewhat-sequel to her 2 Days in Paris, is a frenetic and hilarious screwball romp. It also contains a great deal of truth hidden amongst the screwy exterior. I’ve been a fan of Julie Delpy going back about 15 years now and I must admit I find her on-screen persona to be utterly charming and really funny. I’m glad to see her succeeding in her new ventures. Here she not only acts, but writes and directs this wonderfully funny comedy, which is one of my favorite films of 2012.

Delpy plays Marion, a divorced mother with a young son, who has recently begun living with her new boyfriend Mingus (Chris Rock), who is also divorced with a young daughter. She is a struggling artist and he is a writer and radio show host. Their relationship is still in the early stages of development, yet her family is coming to visit from France to stay with them: her fat and jolly father, her nympho sister, her sister’s boyfriend (who also happens to be Marion’s ex). Delpy’s film examines French-American culture clash, the transience of the modern family unit, and of course that thing we can nearly all relate to…..dysfunction. This film operates like screwball comedies from decades past, which were situational and character driven. I think of Bringing Up Baby (1938), or perhaps even more so, My Man Godfrey (1936). There is a frenetic pacing and absurd silliness to the shenanigans here. Yet it’s tempered by a bittersweet, self-deprecating style of humor. It’s not gross out, a la recent comedies like The Hangover (2009), or Bridesmaids (2011). It also doesn’t rely on those film’s penchant for gags with a long build-up. Delpy’s script is loaded with lots of witty, awkward exchanges that feel very personal and real.

One of the most interesting and funny segments of the film occurs when Marion, as part of an art exhibit, sells her soul for a price to the highest bidder. This sequence is a terrific, mocking send-up of artist pretension, and is an example of Delpy’s sometimes morbid sense of humor. Marion’s father (played by Delpy’s real-life father) has many funny moments with Chris Rock, as neither of them can understand each other, and these scenes are played so underhandedly awkward. Rock plays his part effectively, understanding he doesn’t need to be the funny one in every scene. There is a really funny sequence though between he and Delpy in bed where they discuss a toothbrush that may or may not have been used inappropriately. Delpy is nearly effortless here, breezily portraying the prototypical screwball queen with panache. She has this way of raising her voice and becoming very agitated that I find REALLY funny.

Delpy also does some nice things with the design of the film and the camera, incorporating fast motion, collage photographs, and a couple scenes involving puppets that does not come off pretentious at all. On the contrary it adds a lightness and whimsy to a film that was one big surprise for me. I was not nearly expecting to laugh as much as I did (I laughed the whole time), nor was I thinking it would be as effectively paced as it was, or filled with as much energy as it has. As I said, this film comes from a very long tradition of screwball type comedies. It can at times be really hard to quantify films like this. How do you value laughs or heart? This film has both in large quantities and was the funniest film of 2012 for me, and that's worth a lot.  

Before Sunset (2004) - Directed by Richard Linklater

(This review contains spoilers)
In Before Sunset, Linklater’s follow-up to his romantic masterpiece Before Sunrise (1995), we pick up Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) 10 years after they initially met on a train in Europe. Their epic day spent in Vienna talking, ruminating about life and falling in love, ended with our two lovers departing and making plans to meet up 6 months later on the train platform where they parted ways in Vienna. Of course, they leave without exchanging phone numbers or any contact information, which leaves the viewer very skeptical that they would ever meet again. In Before Sunset, we learn not just what happened 6 months later, but also what else has transpired in their lives since then. Not only is Before Sunset a brilliant and essential follow-up to the first film, in some ways, it’s better.

At the beginning of Before Sunset, we meet Jesse at a bookstore where he is signing copies of his book in a Parisian bookstore. His book, apparently somewhat popular, is the “fictional” account of his day and night with Celine, which occurred roughly 10 years before. Celine happens to be in the bookstore, eyeing Jesse from the stacks of books. They make eye contact and Jesse drops what he’s doing and goes over to see her. They meet awkwardly, slowly begin conversation, and decide to go walk around Paris while talking, before Jesse has to catch an evening plane from Paris to his next stop. We understand immediately that Celine and Jesse never met up 6 months after their initial day together. In fact, this point is discussed early on in the film, clearing up some mystery as to why they didn’t get together. Jesse had made it back to Vienna, but Celine missed the date because her Grandmother died right beforehand, with the funeral occurring on that fateful Dec. 16, thus eliminating any chance of them meeting up again, until now. They spend the rest of the film, as in the first, talking about their lives.

If there’s one part of the film that doesn’t quite work well, it’s actually the opening moments of the film where Celine and Jesse meet. It feels a bit forced and awkward in that bookstore. Once they get out on the streets, the film takes off and the chemistry so electric in the first film, comes into focus again. When comparing the films, it is obvious that Before Sunrise is easily the most traditional of the two, including proceedings more entertaining for standard audiences. What the first film leans on are the encounters with various passers by: the actors, the palm reader, the poet-bum. These encounters pace the film and break up the “monotony” of having two people talk the whole time. In Before Sunset, side characters are eliminated. It is essentially Celine and Jesse, alone for 75 minutes in one long conversation. Thus, cinematically, it’s more risky, and also therefore less romantic in the traditional sense. I feel that this approach is probably closer to what Linklater was trying to get at in the first film, but, Linkater succeeds here in that he’s able to convey the ephemeral time together better. This film nearly occurs in real time, providing us essentially with the lone 70-90 minutes that they have to catch up. In this way, he infuses the film with a fleeting realism. This realism is also apparent in the progression of the discussions which go from polite introductions and jokes, to talk of careers, to the heated discussions of what happened “that day” and why their love lives have never compared with that ever since. This progression toward the more serious reflects our natural tendencies to get to know someone or open up with less important topics and gradually dig deeper.

If the first film was all about “What could life be like?”, then the second film is about “What could life have been like if...?”. This perspective is especially apparent from Jesse and Celine as they talk on the boat tour on the Seine and then continue a heated discussion in a car ride:

Jesse- Why weren’t you there in Vienna?

Celine- I told you why.

Jesse- Well I know why…I just….I wish you would have been. Our lives might have been so much different.

Celine- You think so?

Jesse- I actually do.

My favorite quote in the film is this one:

Celine- I guess when you’re young, you just believe there will be many people with whom you connect with......Later in life you realize it happens only a few times.

Finally the film comes to its most pointed moment here:

Celine- I was fine….until I read your f****ing book. It stirred shit up, you know? It reminded me how genuinely romantic I was and how I had so much hope in things, now it’s like I don’t believe in anything that relates to love. I don’t feel things for people anymore. In a way I put all my romanticism into that one night and I was never able to feel all this again. Like somehow this night took things away from me…..

All these quotes seem so very true, not just for these characters, but great observations about life. There is definitely a regret in the tone of the film, to not just being young and stupid as they say, but to a remorse for what happened to their lives over the last 10 years following their decisions. They are only in their early 30’s, and yet there’s the sense that things are too late for them, as if the decisions made between ages 20-30 set you up for the rest of your life. Missing that window has caused great heartache for both people. I applaud the skepticism and pessimism in this film, as it’s a sobering flipside to the romantic optimism of the first film. Taken together, both films make up one of the essential cinematic relationships.

Before Sunrise (1995) - Directed by Richard Linklater

In 1991, Richard Linklater’s experimental masterpiece Slacker was released. Made and shot on a shoestring in his home-town of Austin, Texas, it consisted of a sequence of vignettes (conversations basically) between a couple of characters that lasted anywhere from 5-10 minutes, whereupon the focus then shifted to a new group of people which we follow for another 10 minutes. So the film goes in its attempt to quantify and give weight to the conversations of a smart but rather directionless group of people. It’s arresting in its vibrancy, inventiveness, and quirky characters, whom by definition we never get to know very well. This style of conversation being the centerpiece of the film, was continued to lesser effect in his coming of age tale, Dazed and Confused (1993). Dazed feels like a feigned attempt at profundity and slogs through a high school genre exercise. But, his next film would be an essential slice of 90’s cinema, a film about talking and listening, of profound discussions of life, death, and love, and a relationship that is born, blossoms, and fades within 24 hours.

Before Sunrise takes the concept laid down in Slacker and Dazed and Confused, but is more mature and focuses on two people for the entire film, rather than groups, so we’re able to dig deep into two souls who have been brought together for a very short time. We’re introduced to Celine (Julie Delpy), a Parisian, on a train in Europe. She is reading in her seat, but is bothered by the arguing couple next to her. She picks up her stuff and moves to the back of the car and sits down next to Jesse (Ethan Hawke). He and she notice each other. He strikes up a conversation with her, a conversation that will last for something like the next 24 hours, after he convinces her to get off with him in Vienna where he needs to catch a flight back home, instead of her continuing on to Paris, which is her final destination. They both realize the next day they must part ways, but in between they spend the entire day, night, and next morning talking, listening, and falling in love. His asking her to go with him is no risk to him. He’s got nothing to lose. Celine’s acceptance of the improvised moment, to leave the train with Jesse, is her leap of faith to accept his trust without question. Their timid and awkward first moments after getting off the train soon lead to letting their guards down, to sharing their inner beliefs and dreams, leading to undeniably romantic passages of the film as they realize they might be each other's soul mates. Linklater's technique doesn't artificially trump-up the romance or create a false sense of preocupation for the audience. We feel that Celine and Jesse earn each other's trust, and our trust as the audience because they are generally interested in each other as equals, as human beings drawn together. This is all done through patience and observing human nature as it unfolds: jokes to break the ice, tentatively giving complements to the other, being respectful of the situation and not taking advantage of the other.

Filmed in Vienna, the film has a gorgeously romantic atmosphere and a few scenes highlight the chemistry between the leads. I love the scene on the trolley-car that is a 6-minute conversation done in one take. They are asking each other questions to get to know one another, and their conversation is funny and observant, and you almost don’t realize it’s one take because it's effortless. The next brilliant scene is after they’ve picked up a record in the record store and they go into the listening booth to hear it. Linklater’s camera focuses on both their faces at the same time as they listen to the yearning, romantic ballad with the tension literally boiling over. They both want to look at each other during the song. But every time Jesse looks at her, she looks at him and he turns away, and vice versa as they avoid making eye contact out of embarrasment. This scene aches with a tenderness that is unbearably real. Of course much of the film is devoted to just following them through the city as they wander, but they encounter a few people along the way that almost act as signposts for their relationship as it matures. First they meet a few goofy actors on the bridge who seem to hardly regard them as a serious couple. Later, a palm reader seems to recognize their connection and leaves them with these words, “You need to resign yourself to the awkwardness of life”. Then they encounter a poet, who leaves Celine and Jesse with a beautifully written poem, giving weight to their evening and connection. Finally, the bartender, recognizing that they are living the most important night of their lives, gives them a bottle of wine to share. As their connection increases, so does the awareness of their connection become apparent to others. Sure enough, their youthful, idealized romanticism is wrapped up in living for the moment without much regard for the consequences. Their relationship seems to exist outside of time itself, and in the morning they have to face tough decisions. As the film reaches its ending, it's clear that the romantic optimism for life that they share gets in the way of practical reality.  It's this tug-of-war between romanticism and reality that sets up the difficult decisions. My lasting impression I take from the film is that it encompasses that point in life where one wonders what one's life might be like, and what life could be. Celine and Jesse are constantly attempting to answer these questions.

This film wouldn’t work so well if it weren’t for the winning performances from Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, giving life and breadth to the film and commanding our attention for the entire length of it. They are literally onscreen together for nearly the whole film. Linklater’s script, co-written with Kim Krizan, is knowing and honest about life as a twenty-something, and most of Celine and Jesse’s discussions encompass not pop culture or current events, but timeless things like memories and fears, making the film far less dated than it could be today. Of course, at the end of the film, after Celine and Jesse are no longer in Vienna, a melancholic coda comes over the film, recapping through images, the places they went through the previous day. Only now with the light of day upon them, these places feel ordinary and empty, as if the fleeting moments they shared together are destined to remain only as memories... or will they? It’s no big secret that there is a sequel to the film, Before Sunset, which takes place 10 years after Before Sunrise, that is an essential companion to the first one. I will examine the sequel next week. But it’s the first film that can always stand on it’s own, and there is a freshness about Before Sunrise even today.  Before Sunrise is one of my favorite dramatic romances, along with Casablanca (1942) and Brief Encounter (1948).