The Before Trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight) is directed by Richard Linklater who brought to us Boyhood, one of the most memorable film of 2014. In these series, he worked with Ethan Hawke (as he did in Boyhood) and Julie Delpy, and we pretty much just watch the interaction between them for the entire three movies. You might think, 'how do you make three whole movies about the same two people? This is probably a boring series about a corny love story'. But when you watch the first 30 minutes of Before Sunrise, you'll change you mind completely.
Before Sunrise begins with Jesse (Hawke), an American, and Celine (Delpy), a French, on a train in Europe. They begin conversing and soon enough they feel a connection to each other. When the train stops at Jesse's station, he spontaneously asks Celine to get off with him, to which she eventually agrees. As they explore the city of Vienna together, their feelings for each other grow stronger. But they know the moment will not last long, as Jesse has to board a plane to the U.S. the next morning.
Before Sunset takes place some time later when they meet in Europe again. I won't even give an introduction for this one, because even from the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised by the setting of the second movie in the trilogy. Before Midnight is years after it's precursor. For the same reasons, I won't introduce this one, but let me tell you that this one is more serious in tone and adds an essential element that brings the series to an amazing close.
When most of today's romance movies are plagued with the same plot, cheesy dialogue, and fake romance, I was hesitant to watch Before Sunrise. But soon enough, I fell in love with it and made my way onto the second and third. Probably the strongest characteristic of these movies is that they feel very genuine. The way the characters talk and interact, it doesn't seem like the usual "movie-dialogue" and there are no forced jokes that are thrown in for laughs. On top of that, the characters are very interesting. They share similarities but also differences, they have their unique views on issues, and when they converse, these traits and preferences subtly but truly come out. This is the result of an excellent script, direction, and acting (man, are they good actors) and it allows for three very captivating movies to be made about just two people.
The series doesn't rely on a complicated plot to keep the audiences attention. The plot is extremely simple, but it makes you want to get to know the characters more. In each movie, they have to face an unfortunate circumstance - for example in Before Sunrise, Jesse has to leave the next morning but they don't want to be separated. To watch the two deal with these problems together gives you something to look forward to - it adds an element of mystery. The endings of each movie are especially notable. They are very appropriate - it doesn't tie up the story completely (except for the last one) or give everything away. It's not a sugar-sweet ending that most romance movies have, but it's also not an extremely emotional, sad one. Then, to watch how Linklater continues the story in his second, and then third, movies is marvelous. You expect the sequels to be at certain settings (as I mentioned above), but they aren't. In the beginning you may desire what you expected, but you'll soon realize that the setting that Linklater chose is actually a much better choice.
The Before Trilogy paints a genuine picture of romance - and not just the lovey-dovey part, but also some of its ugly sides. This well-directed, wonderfully-acted movie reminded me what love is like and I'm certain it will for you too.
Before Sunrise - 9.0/10
Before Sunset - 8.5/10
Before Midnight - 9.0/10
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