Before Midnight

You may have noticed that I was absent from the blog yesterday.  I was around and, for the most part have no excuse, but at the same time, I have a good excuse.  Now that I have made it as specifically vague as possible, it is time to get back in the writing groove and talk about a film that came out in limited release back in the end of May of this year called Before Midnight, directed by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, School of Rock).  It is the third movie in a trilogy, starting in 1995 with Before Sunrise, and was followed in 2004 by Before Sunset.  It follows the relationship of two characters, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Deply) through their first meeting, their re-acquainting, and in Before Midnight we meet up with them after they have been together for ten years and have young twin girls.  I should also mention, there will be a few spoilers around the flow and tension of the movie.

While so many romantic dramas (and almost every movie, in fact) follow tried and true formulas, with acts, protagonists, antagonists, and the like, this film really is simply a day in the life of this couple.  They have been together for a while, have children, and are on the last day of a summer spent in Greece.  That's it.  That's what the writers, Linklater, Hawke, and Deply, have set for us.  While it never seems to follow any rules of films, it creates an environment where the viewer feels like we are physically there with them.  This is thanks to one of the best written scripts I have seen in... well, I cannot remember when.  Everything feels so real, so authentic, and so natural that we are sitting on a bench listening to friends talk about books.  We feel like we are sitting at a dinner table hearing couples share about the concept of love, and we feel the warmth of the hospitality and comradery of the company.

The key focus of this film is on the concept of love, and what love is.  Right at the beginning of the film, we are shown that there could be possible rifts between Jesse and Celine, which we see them deal with in a eerily realistic way.  Towards the end, those rifts come to the surface, and, once again, it is just how real the interaction feels that could make this film a trigger to people who live in argumentative relationships.  As they battle through different surface issues, it comes down to the concept of love, and more so, the definition of love that each character lives by.  As comforted as the audience can feel during some of the very endearing scenes (and there are tons of those), we can feel very awkward during the argument.  If you have ever been at someone's house while they argue with their spouse, that is the feeling this movie is able to replicate... the desire for it just to end, or to think of a reason why we should leave.

Along with the great script, Linklater uses some very long shots, using very few cuts to give the conversations an elevated level of reality.  There is an amazing scene where Jesse and Celine are walking through the country side and a small village, a scene that lasts perhaps ten to fifteen minutes, and there is little evidence of editing through large sections of it.  As they are walking, the sun is setting, and we see it exposing less and less of them as they progress.  It is such a beautifully shot scene that, and I am going to sound like a repeating record here, it puts us in the country side with them.  Even the imagery of the sun setting on them, as they are walking towards what could be a relationship ending argument, gives us the idea that the sun could be setting on their time together as a couple.

For romantic dramas, this movie is outstanding.  However, I will say that it will probably not be enjoyed by everyone.  It is not only dialogue heavy, it is only dialogue.  From start to finish, that is what the film is, just in different settings with a few different people.  However, it is what the characters say and how they relate that holds the entertainment and the power of this film.  It is not all sunshine and smiles towards the end, but if one can endure the unpleasantness (and authenticity) of their argument, one can see that even after the sun sets on the worst of days we can have hope in the fact that it will rise again the very next.

Rating - 4 out of 4 stars

Initially I was sitting at a 3.5 rating for this movie, but the more I thought about it, the more I went over it in my mind, the more I realized just how well done this film is.  Not only is it technically superb, but it consistently achieves conveying emotion to the audience, not just on an intellectual level, but a personal level as well.