When we were first chosen to be the Film and Television Editors for The Student, we sat around a table, naming films that we loved until we could settle on a favourite. A clear and immediate winner was various instalments of the Before trilogy. Here are our reasons for why we love them so:
Audrey’s Pick: Before Sunrise
It’s honestly difficult to summarise my exact adoration for Before Sunrise. This is one of the first films I watched that instigated a moment of, “Wow, this is what real cinema is.” I know I’ll come off as pretentious, but really, in a world where we’re so entangled in excitement or situationships or the next new thing, Before Sunrise is such a relief. Romance truly invites viewers, where instead of melodramatic, over-the-top moments, the film compels through an opposingly different lens: Mundanity. Finding love in those normal moments, witnessing two strangers falling in love with each other through the exchange of completely normal conversations. The deliberation of something we’ve all experienced before, naturally captured in two people spending a single day together on our screens. Two people contemplating whether to see cows in a play over a Vienna bridge, murmurs in a dim café (which I’ve visited!), a poet that approaches to write a poem titled “Daydream Delusion”; Before Sunrise holds some unreplicable magic. Idealistic as it may be, Before Sunrise is essential as a testament to the need for slow films, “nothing really happens” films, where what you pick out to “feel” for yourself matters the very most. Connection – in the film itself – with its viewers, is the main driving force of what makes this trilogy so captivating for those lucky enough to fall in love with it.
Nikola’s Pick: Before Sunset
Before Sunset is about what it means to return. The feeling of leaving something behind, becoming different, then returning to find that this something has also now changed. But in the time that has passed and the space that has grown in-between, the intangible feeling of familiarity lingers.
In this sense, the film plays in conversation with the “idealism” of its predecessor. Strolling around Paris a decade after their first meeting in Vienna, Jesse and Celine feel more independent from each other, more formed in their own identities. Part of that separation is the unease. Ultimately, the central conflict of the Before Trilogy’s second instalment is the anxiety of the return. Will they fall in love again?
With this through-line in mind, Before Sunset may have one of the most succinct, breath-stealing endings in cinema. Any other filmmaker may have ended the film twenty-minutes later, but in closing the curtains at a moment of apprehension, Linklater passes the question of how the narrative ends to the audience. And just like the characters, we too have rid ourselves of our anxieties, answering the question unanimously.
Livvie’s Pick: Before Midnight
Finally, we reach the third piece of the puzzle. Before Midnight offers an insight into realistic love and marriage. That is not to say it isn’t uncomplicated nor unremarkable. But it certainly contrasts with our previous perception of the pair. Marriage can be seen as a tough, disappointing commitment, built on nostalgia and long forgotten passion. Certainly, this is what audiences complained about – that the grandiose love seemed to have disappeared, everything was too… normal. Is this our destiny, for those of us who so frantically search for our star-crossed lover, to live so beautifully and spontaneously in the beginning, before reality and mundanity creep in? Almost twenty years have passed since that fateful night in Vienna, and I can understand audiences’ frustrations. Yet therein lies why Before Midnight is equally as beautiful as its two predecessors. It is the truth.
In an interview, Hawke recalled that the camera operator was certain, “Jesse wouldn’t do that.” when discussing Jesse’s wandering eye. When Hawke asked why, the cameraman explained that Jesse’s love for Celine (Julie Delpy) was so profound that he wouldn’t even consider looking at someone else. “This is the mission of Before Midnight: to humanize romantic love,” Hawke said. “Our goal on that movie was, ‘Could you make a romantic movie about a couple who’s been together for 10 years and not tell one lie? To not goose the truth at all?’”
And so, the Before Trilogy remains the editors’ favourite trilogy, as we adore the portrayal and journey of love in all forms.
Illustration by Lucy Wellington