5 Reasons Why Richard Linklater's Before Midnight Could Complete Perfect Trilogy
If the now completed shooting Before Midnight is as good as the first two, then Richard Linklater has an excellent shot of crafting one of the great film trilogies of all time.
In 1995, Richard Linklater, Julie Deply, and Ethan Hawke struck cinematic gold with their combined efforts in Before Sunrise. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike for its ability to be one of the most honest, natural, and simple love stories of all time. In a nutshell, boy meets girl in a foreign land, spends a single night with her, then departs with a promise to meet her again in exactly nine years. Bypassing all the romantic cliches, Deply and Hawke crafted two real characters and through nothing but conversation, became some of the most endearing creations cinema has ever offered. Then, in 2004 with Before Sunset, the team reunited, and true to their promise in the first film, Ethan Hawke's Jesse met up with Celine and reignited another conversation that lasts (within the confines of the movie) a much shorter time than in the first film. Their passions reignited, the film drops off open-ended, not sealing the fate of either character. The filmmakers seemed to bring their magic to the table with the sequel, as it was garnished with the same praise (if not more) as the first film. Now, recent news has it that the trio has completed a third script, setting the couple up for another evening (or morning) together in the aptly named Before Midnight. In fact, this week it was reported that the film had actually completed shooting and the first image (above) of the film is already making the rounds. If the film is as good as the first two, the trilogy has an excellent shot of becoming one of the great trilogies of all time. But what are the elements that make the series so good that it must continue? And thus, the following article.
"Think of it like this: jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you're married. Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have, y'know. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those guys you've met in your life and what might have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right? Well, I'm one of those guys."