(2013)
directed by Richard Linklater
I confess that “Before Midnight” is my least favorite of the three movies that comprise Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” trilogy. That’s not because it is isn’t an excellent movie. It’s because I am a hopeless romantic who fell head over heels in love with the first two movies!
“Before Midnight” is an extraordinary movie that focuses on the hard work required for a successful relationship after the first blush of falling in love evolves into a life together that is way more challenging but just as wonderful as the falling in love part. I have always had a weakness for movies that focus on the “falling in love” part of a relationship. I wish I had watched more movies like “Before Midnight!”
In “Before Sunrise,” Linklater introduced us to Jesse and Celine when they were in their twenties. He returned to them nine years later in “Before Sunset” when they were in their thirties. Now, in “Before Midnight,” he returns to them when they are in their forties. They seem tired and irritable. Another nine years have passed since Jesse and Celine reunited in Paris in “Before Sunset.” Once again, I am also nine years older, having watched “Before Sunset” when it was first released.
“Before Midnight” begins with Jesse at an airport seeing off his son, now a teenager, as he returns to his mother in Chicago. When Jesse steps back outside to get into the car with Celine, it is a shock to see two little blonde twin daughters! “Before Midnight” is enchanting because we still recognize the same Jesse and Celine who got off the train together eighteen years ago!
Like any couple in a relationship that has lasted for years, Jesse and Celine have accumulated countless shared memories. They have also accumulated countless shared disagreements and arguments. Instead of talking about the future, as they once did, they focus on the past. A sudden reminder of something unpleasant from the past is likely to start an argument. They know exactly how to fan the spark of an unpleasant memory or past argument into a raging inferno. Their fights are downright scary. “Before Midnight” is an important movie because it acknowledges that even a love story as touching as Jesse and Celine’s must contend with the stresses and strains of real life.