It appears that many things have changed around here. It's been years since I've posted on here, but as chance would have it, a regular in Mayberry sent me a PM wondering if I still write or not. Shocking as that was to me, seeing as I've not posted anything in years, I've given it some thought, and decided to write here again anyways. If the post is not in line with the proper decorum of this place anymore, my apologies, it's not my intent.
A film series like the "Before Trilogy" is a strange thing to me. It is now a three part installment with the release of "Before Midnight" this month, and an easily digestible 4.5-5 hours of cinema, if you choose to watch them all consecutively. However, what strikes me about this film, as did the previous two did, is how two characters can keep you involved, entertained and invested in a format driven entirely by dialogue. To that point, to say these films are "dialogue heavy" is a misuse of the label, as it is simply all dialogue. We are given a snapshot (three now I suppose) into the lives of two people, and it seems almost gluttonous of me to ask director Richard Linklater for more.
For those not familiar, the films revolve around Jesse (Ethan Hawke) the expatriate American novelist on vacation in Greece with his French lover and partner Celine (Julie Delpy). The first film provides us with a window into their first meeting, the second film privies us to their reunion, and this third allows us to bear witness to the emotional weight and burdens of commitment, children, and the difficult prospect of making a relationship so eclectic work and survive. This is not to say that the previous two films are mandatory viewings to watch this film. Each film carries itself quite well, and I feel it'd be quite interesting to view these films out of order. But for me, it's been a journey. An eclectic, dysfunctional, romanticized, burdensome, funny, challenging, and ultimately rewarding journey.
I suppose, I could spend the rest of this essay providing plot summaries, sans spoilers, and supplement them with analysis, as standard fare would suggest. However, that would be a disservice to the film for two reasons. First being that there is no plot, in the manner in which movie-goers expect. The film revolves around Jesse and Celine in the final moments of their summer vacation talking, as couples do. Secondly, the "plot" as some would expect is not a sequence of events propelled by character choices which satisfies a certain storytelling arc, it's the emotional arc of two people that deeply love each other, but co-exist with conflicting personal states (both professional and social) and the overwhelming baggage one accumulates throughout their life.
The plot is besides the point. To sit back, and watch the two converse, observing their timing, their delivery and revel in its execution is a pleasure so rare in cinema these days. I spent quite a deal of time, ruminating, if and how, the cast of this film rehearsed their lines. Some takes, such as the opening car ride from the airport, are as long as twenty minutes. It feels absurd to think any cast member spent hours laboring over the proper delivery of their lines. These actors don't become characters, they wear them, like a second skin.
It's hard to believe it's been 18 years since the first "Before Sunrise" and 9 years since the sequel "Before Sunset." Remembering that the former was a studio picture and that the current "Before Midnight" is an independent feature shows you both the changing state of the industry and viewer habits. But that stretch in time is one of the many reasons why the film succeeds. The characters, the actors are older, wiser, crazier, and more invested. And seeing Hawke and Deply wear and own these characters is quite a thing to experience.
I do have qualms with the way the film is marketed. The label "romantic comedy and drama" seems misleading. Is it comical? It surely is, but not in the slapstick, or gross-out gags we have come to expect from "comedy" films lately. (And that's certainly not to say that I don't enjoy them) It's in the genuinely humorous nature of who we are, what we do because of who we are, and what we say to justify them. Is it romantic? Absolutely, though not in the way some $5.99 books at the checkout counter at your local Wal-Mart are. It certainly is dramatic. But this is not a "romantic drama and comedy" that would leave your initial thoughts to consider this as a date movie. It is an adult movie, about adult issues. It's a challenging film, which asks challenging questions. There are words of reason, emotion, and one liners well below the belt and the film's transient realism may be off-putting to some, maybe most, but it makes for one hell of a time at the movies.
A film series like the "Before Trilogy" is a strange thing to me. It is now a three part installment with the release of "Before Midnight" this month, and an easily digestible 4.5-5 hours of cinema, if you choose to watch them all consecutively. However, what strikes me about this film, as did the previous two did, is how two characters can keep you involved, entertained and invested in a format driven entirely by dialogue. To that point, to say these films are "dialogue heavy" is a misuse of the label, as it is simply all dialogue. We are given a snapshot (three now I suppose) into the lives of two people, and it seems almost gluttonous of me to ask director Richard Linklater for more.
For those not familiar, the films revolve around Jesse (Ethan Hawke) the expatriate American novelist on vacation in Greece with his French lover and partner Celine (Julie Delpy). The first film provides us with a window into their first meeting, the second film privies us to their reunion, and this third allows us to bear witness to the emotional weight and burdens of commitment, children, and the difficult prospect of making a relationship so eclectic work and survive. This is not to say that the previous two films are mandatory viewings to watch this film. Each film carries itself quite well, and I feel it'd be quite interesting to view these films out of order. But for me, it's been a journey. An eclectic, dysfunctional, romanticized, burdensome, funny, challenging, and ultimately rewarding journey.
I suppose, I could spend the rest of this essay providing plot summaries, sans spoilers, and supplement them with analysis, as standard fare would suggest. However, that would be a disservice to the film for two reasons. First being that there is no plot, in the manner in which movie-goers expect. The film revolves around Jesse and Celine in the final moments of their summer vacation talking, as couples do. Secondly, the "plot" as some would expect is not a sequence of events propelled by character choices which satisfies a certain storytelling arc, it's the emotional arc of two people that deeply love each other, but co-exist with conflicting personal states (both professional and social) and the overwhelming baggage one accumulates throughout their life.
The plot is besides the point. To sit back, and watch the two converse, observing their timing, their delivery and revel in its execution is a pleasure so rare in cinema these days. I spent quite a deal of time, ruminating, if and how, the cast of this film rehearsed their lines. Some takes, such as the opening car ride from the airport, are as long as twenty minutes. It feels absurd to think any cast member spent hours laboring over the proper delivery of their lines. These actors don't become characters, they wear them, like a second skin.
It's hard to believe it's been 18 years since the first "Before Sunrise" and 9 years since the sequel "Before Sunset." Remembering that the former was a studio picture and that the current "Before Midnight" is an independent feature shows you both the changing state of the industry and viewer habits. But that stretch in time is one of the many reasons why the film succeeds. The characters, the actors are older, wiser, crazier, and more invested. And seeing Hawke and Deply wear and own these characters is quite a thing to experience.
I do have qualms with the way the film is marketed. The label "romantic comedy and drama" seems misleading. Is it comical? It surely is, but not in the slapstick, or gross-out gags we have come to expect from "comedy" films lately. (And that's certainly not to say that I don't enjoy them) It's in the genuinely humorous nature of who we are, what we do because of who we are, and what we say to justify them. Is it romantic? Absolutely, though not in the way some $5.99 books at the checkout counter at your local Wal-Mart are. It certainly is dramatic. But this is not a "romantic drama and comedy" that would leave your initial thoughts to consider this as a date movie. It is an adult movie, about adult issues. It's a challenging film, which asks challenging questions. There are words of reason, emotion, and one liners well below the belt and the film's transient realism may be off-putting to some, maybe most, but it makes for one hell of a time at the movies.