Review of Before Midnight (2013) by Rachel B — 09 Sep 2013

The third and long-awaited installment of the Before sunrise-before sunset has graced our screens, some 17 years after Jesse and Céline fortuitously meet in a Paris-bound train and embark on what is one of the most compelling romantic adventures of modern cinema.

Ironically similar to the characters n the upcoming book Jesse is toying with in his mind who go through life experiencing a constant sense of déjà vu, the audience could be forgiven for having the same feeling. 'On ne change pas use equipe qui gagne' Céline quipped, and 'Before Midnight' certainly does not.

With the exception of a smattering of couples obviously intended to symbolize the main couple's past and future stages of life together, the film essentially focuses on Jesse and Céline talking at and to each other, exploring their relationship for better or - as it seems - for worse.

On the up side - the chemistry between the two main characters is (still) undeniable. It constitutes the soul of the film, and helps to get the audience through some of the self-indulgently long one-take conversations the two labour through (count the 14 minutes during the continuous take in the front seat of a car). At times this viewer was left wishing the director had chosen to placate/indulge/divert the audience away from the monotony of the conversation through some aesthetic bribery, alas very little of the splendor of the Greek island they are staying on is shown.

The actors play their respective roles to perfection. Hawke is spot on as the supposedly messy and sexually monotonous husband, still unbelievably in love but struggling with the upheaval of his life in Paris and the growing emotional distance from his rapidly maturing son; Delphy's role is true to character, and after so many of her emotional and shill outbursts you could be forgiven for wondering how Jesse keeps the strength to stay in the same room as her. His description of her as the mayor of crazy town is no exaggeration, and is just one of the superlative comments needed to carry the more than slightly affected conversation along.

Before Midnight tells exactly the story it should of a couple facing the reality of monogamous life as parents in their forties. Like Jesse and Céline themselves, it is not as subtly passionate as Before Sunrise, nor as achingly promising as Before Sunset. They, like the sun, have perhaps seen their brightest years, and the melancholy and nostalgia of this edition, despite its faults, captures this reality.

The twin girls the couple have are merely extras, a pity since we never get a sense of the importance of the fact that this couple are now parents too, and the importance of this in their relationship.

The years between leaving your parents' home and having kids are the only true years of freedom that you will know, says Jesse at one point. It seems as if Jesse and Céline have come by and passed their years of freedom and leave us pondering whether they were just passing through each other's lives, or whether the fairy tale can somehow come true. This question mark at the end will surely see fans of the first two films queuing to see part four in ten years' time. I'll be in the line too.