BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Tonight, I went to see the new Richard Linklater movie “Before Midnight.” This is the third movie in a trilogy that began with “Before Sunrise” and then “Before Sunset.”  Each movie features the same characters – Jesse, an American man, and Celine, a French woman.

These characters meet for the first time in their 20s in “Before Sunrise” while each is on holiday. In that movie, Jesse somehow works up the nerve to strike up a conversation with Celine on a train. He convinces her to get off with him in Vienna and explore the city. A romantic night of talking and connecting follows. However, in the end, these characters go their separate ways.

Jesse eventually becomes a writer and writes a book about that night. In “Before Sunset,” Jesse is in Paris on a tour promoting that book. As you might have guessed, Celine shows up to the reading. At this time, the characters are in their 30s, and Jesse is unhappily married with a young son living in the U.S.  Jesse and Celine reconnect and enjoy another memorable day together. At the movie’s conclusion, we, the audience, are left wondering what will happen next for these two.

In “Before Midnight,” Jesse and Celine are in their 40s. They are now a couple that lives in Paris with their twin daughters, and they have settled into a domestic routine.  The movie takes place during their holiday in Greece, and much of the movie features the two of them conversing about their lives. A lot of deep-seated feelings and resentments bubble up to the surface, and their calm, whimsical discussions quickly become resentful. 

It is amidst the fighting, that we truly come to appreciate the humanity of these two characters. They are not two beautiful people with perfect lives and carefree existences. On the contrary, they are people who have deep misgivings about some of their choices, their partners’ behaviors, and their futures. 

In this sense, these characters embody so many people who are or have been in long-term relationships.  It is not easy to sustain a marriage… especially when one is busy with work, kids, and life and continually stressed-out. On top of that, we all change as we grow older. What was once desirable, acceptable, or tolerable no longer feels the same way. It is in these moments, when one begins to wonder, was it all worth out? The answer is complicated and most definitely very personal.

For most of our post-pubescent lives, we long for one thing – to be accepted and to be with someone else. Who can ever forget the worry of finding a date to the prom, having a girlfriend, or getting married? Our society constantly presents marriage and relationships as the norm, the ideal. Evolutionary theory also tells us that it is in our interest to pair up and reproduce so that we may leave a genetic legacy.

However, what if marriage and coupledom is not the panacea for which we had been hoping? What if living in a prolonged state with the same individual leaves one feeling diminished rather than aggrandized?  This is the theme Jesse and Celine tackle on the night in which “Before Midnight” takes place. Just like in real life, there are no simple answers or endings to their tale. The audience, or at least this audience member, is left wondering what will become of these two and also what should become of us?

Life does not always turn out the way it is supposed to. In many instances, that is no one’s fault. If anything is to be blamed, it is time. Time passes quickly, but change is continuous though often imperceptible. That is, until one steps back and realizes what has become of one’s life, one’s family, or one’s marriage.

Some - perhaps the ones that we often call wise - are able to appreciate the good with the bad. Others only see the darkness without the light. However, before midnight it is difficult to know which of these perspectives is wrong and which is right...