The trilogy is, arguably, a staple of American cinema. In the last fifty or so years, Hollywood has brought to screens some of the most celebrated stories told in three parts. From Back to the Future to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man to the revived Planet of the Apes, there’s something rather special about following a core group of characters as they journey from one film to the next, confronting new challenges and growing stronger and wiser with time. The studios too have benefited from turning one successful movie into an entire franchise with additional sequels, just look at the original Star Wars trilogy. Although, as audiences are painfully aware, not all good things come in threes. Some of the most critically adored series of all time often fail to dazzle and amaze on their third outing.
The legacies of The Godfather or The Dark Knight, for example, are sometimes questioned thanks to their less popular final chapters. It appears that successfully dissecting one continuous story into thirds is no easy feat. However, director Richard Linklater proved himself as a master of the form when he, during an eighteen-year period, delivered what is arguably one of the greatest trilogies of all time. Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight are a trio of films unlike any other that took the romantic drama genre to new, previously unseeable heights. The tale of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine’s (Julie Delpy) love for each other may not be as epic as Frodo’s journey in The Lord of the Rings or as action-packed as Tony Stark’s adventures as Iron Man, but what these films achieve on both a technical and artistic level is truly outstanding. It’s time we gave them the respect they most certainly deserve.
What makes Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight stand out amongst other trilogies is the fact that each entry in the series feels both independent of the larger narrative and simultaneously a crucial part of it. To put it simply, each film offers audiences something new and different despite resting on the same basic premise. At the heart of the story is the relationship between Jesse and Celine, this never changes over the course of the three movies. On each occasion, they venture through a singular European city, discussing their hopes, beliefs, and the meaning of their existence, all under the pressure of a ticking clock. Essentially, the entire series is one long continuous conversation. Despite this seemingly being the case, each film has its own unique identity. Sunrise is arguably the most romantic of the three, where the two wide-eyed twenty-somethings meet for the first time. As they navigate the beautiful streets of Vienna, they encounter several weird and wonderful characters who often redirect the topic of discussion, injecting the narrative with a fairytale-like quality.
Most importantly though, this first chapter is about Jesse and Celine dreaming of a life together. Things take a drastically different turn in Sunset, however. We learn that there was no happy ending for the pair and that they haven’t seen each other for nine whole years. What significantly sets Sunset apart from Sunrise is its focus on Jesse and Celine not as a duo, but as individuals. Both have embarked upon new careers since their school days and both have begun new romantic relationships, particularly Jesse, who now has a wife and son.
If the events of Sunrise were a dream, then what unfolds during Sunset is a reality check. Midnight then raises the stakes even higher as the characters, now married and parents to two daughters, face the possibility that their relationship may be over. It’s very easily the hardest watch of the series, their usual fanciful ideas for the future now replaced by an aggressive longing for the past. Gone are the days of freedom and being young, instead Jesse and Celine are now responsible, not only for their children but for each other. And so, what audiences are left with are three distinct pictures that belong in the same photo album. All three films can essentially be watched independently of each other but still effectively combine to tell one complete story.
Another element that makes the Before trilogy so extraordinary is its treatment of its central characters. Between all three films, both Jesse and Celine undergo significant change and growth. In Sunrise, Celine is often portrayed as the optimistic one of the two, while Jesse is the cynic. Take, for example, the sequence where they are approached by the palm reader. Celine is eager to have her fortune told and happily parts with her money for an opportunity to learn more about her future. Jesse, on the other hand, believes Celine has been manipulated and lied to and doesn’t believe that anyone can read palms. Further instances throughout the film continue to paint each character in the same light. However, in Sunset, both Jesse and Celine seem to have reversed their outlook. Jesse is now the one who looks on the brighter side of life while Celine is preoccupied with all that’s wrong with the world. These changes are surprising but not at all unwarranted, given the time that has passed in addition to where both characters now find themselves in their careers and love lives.
And then by Midnight, both Jesse and Celine seemed to have adopted a new perspective. Now in their forties, and with all the excitement and novelty of adulthood supposedly behind them, the pair are skeptical about their capabilities as parents, romantic partners, and individuals. As an audience, we’re led to believe that they have grown tired, not only of each other but of life. It’s heartbreaking to see them so drastically different from the people we first met back in 1995. And yet, there’s something utterly beautiful about the fragility of happiness. In the final moments of the film, however, there is a faint glimmer of hope, as the duo appears to revert back to their twenty-something selves and verge on rediscovering their reason for living. Supposedly, not all trilogies are capable of bringing their characters to life in such a vivid and relatable way so that each time we’re reintroduced to them, it’s like we’re discovering them for the first time. Jesse and Celine should therefore stand among the most iconic romantic pairings in American cinema.
Moving on, it could be said that one of the most interesting features of the Before trilogy is that each film takes place in the decade in which it was made. Sunrise is set in the mid-1990s, Sunset in the early 2000s, and Midnight in the early 2010s. And so, what the trilogy delivers is a love story eighteen years in the making. From the beginning of Sunrise to the ending of Midnight, we witness Jesse and Celine navigate their relationship on the cusp of adulthood, then in their thirties, and finally middle-age. Linklater could very well have continued to make the sequels immediately after Sunrise, either setting all three films in the 1990s or maintaining the eighteen-year time period by using makeup to age the actors. However, in both scenarios, a sense of authenticity and believability would be lost.
Again, in Midnight, we witness what appears to be the end of the couple’s relationship. What makes this decay seem so real and plausible is the fact that we have witnessed Jesse and Celine go back and forth towards and away from each other for nearly two decades. We see the wrinkles slowly forming on their faces and the color in their hair begin to fade as they both age. As viewers, we have essentially given eighteen years of our own lives to these two characters, regardless of whether we watched each film on release or not, and so their journey from being completely besotted with one another to almost parting ways becomes all the more powerful, gut-wrenching, and uplifting. In short, these films needed to be made years apart.
Cinema is subjective and, of course, a ten-year-old who grew up with Marvel movies and an eighty-year-old who remembers the golden era of Hollywood are likely going to have vastly different tastes. As far as the greatest trilogies to ever grace our screens, some might say the original Indiana Jones series, and others may claim Sergio Leone’s Dollars films. But one thing is for certain, no trilogy has been able to explore the highs and lows of what it means to love someone like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. How such a universal concept was distilled into a one-in-a-million idea is incredible and evidence of Linklater’s unrivaled skill with both a pen and a camera. Yes, they may not have been as financially successful as Peter Jackson’s dive into Middle-Earth nor be remembered as fondly as Francis Ford Coppola’s snapshots of the Corleone family, but the Before films do what most trilogies seem incapable of ever achieving – they make us look at our loved ones and then at ourselves and force us to ask the hard questions.