Before Midnight is the third installment in the Before series. The highly-anticipated continuation of Jesse and Celine’s journey which started with their fateful meeting on a train to Vienna in Before Sunrise, followed by a spontaneous encounter in Paris nine years later in Before Sunset, and continuing in Greece for Before Midnight. Hardcore fans of the Before series will surely reminisce about the first two movies when they finally view this third installment.
In Before Midnight, Jesse and Celine followed their hearts, and it led them to a six-week sojourn in Greece with their twin daughters. In this leg of their journey, they ponder upon the blatant realities that they have been evading for quite a while. Similar to the first two films, Before Midnight applies the distinct style of the Before series – Jesse and Celine once again breathe life into the art of talking. Conversations revolve around ideas such as what love really means, what being in love entails, and what it takes to make a relationship work. The film grapples with a question: “What happens when the fairytale romance ends?” Before Midnight is a riveting and dramatic love story, evoking deep emotions from the audience and provoking them to think about their own lives.
What’s commendable about the movie is that it gives more humanity to Jesse and Celine’s characters, which in turn lends their story more authenticity. If the first two films depicted their lives through rose-colored glasses, Before Midnight removes those glasses completely, letting audiences view the Before saga in a different light. Jessie and Celine’s worlds come full circle in Before Midnight.
This is a film for the romantics, the cynics, the love struck, the broken-hearted, and those who want to believe in a deeper, more profound kind of love that will last a lifetime.
Writers and critics have been raving about the film after seeing it:
“In the era of superficial and illicit love affairs, it is really nice to see a series that does not give up on showing people how true love should be. We all seem to be losing the idea of purity and honesty because deus ex machina endings are far more cinematic than reality. But the thing is, love will be an eternal trouble by itself, and Richard Linklater have made this clear in Before Midnight, the third installment of the Before Series.” – Rhea Gulin, outrageous-writer.org
“Just like the first two sequel, the movie “Before Midnight” is full of love, fun, drama and romances. Yes, it is a movie. Yes, it is fiction. But from the very first frame of 1995′s “Before Sunrise,” and continuing through to 2004′s “Before Sunset” and now “Before Midnight,” Jesse and Celine haven’t really behaved like characters in a movie romance. As a result, these films haven’t felt at all like your standard movie romances. They are in Greece this time, and they once more do a considerable amount of walking and talking as they and their relationship continue to evolve. The best thing in this movie is; you can learn how to handle a relationship despite of the mood swing and other behaviours when you are in the middle age. Love might not be perfect but at the end of the day or before midnight, you promise each other to start another stage of relationship.” – moviepinas.com
“Kudos to Linklater for bringing the trilogy full circle, referencing dialogue from the first film in a way that doesn’t seem schmaltzy or contrived (the stuff about the time machine is a master stroke). Kudos also to Delpy and Hawke for really engaging these characters in some head-to-head, high-stakes acting. It’s not pretty sometimes, but it gives the film indie cred. Kudos again to Linklater for not swerving from a decidedly non-commercial concept — walking and talking — that has made hisBefore films quiet little gems. And kudos to Reality Multimedia, a “boutique acquisition and media distribution company” which presented Before Midnight to us in preview screening and will bring it to Manila audiences on July 10.” – Scott Garceau, The Philippine Star
“As before, it’s often very funny, with Jesse and Celine swapping Woody Allen-esque one-liners – nicely snarky, appealingly abrasive. Delpy is on particularly fine form, reminding us of her terrific work in the underrated 2 Days in New York, which she co-wrote and directed, but which never got the credit it deserved. As for Linklater, he continues to be a prolific force of nature, the “slacker” who turned out to be the hardest working film-maker on the block, turning his hand from sci-fi animation (A Scanner Darkly) to quasi-historical drama (Me and Orson Welles) to true crime tragicomedy (Bernie) with ease, following mainstream hits such as School of Rock with the kind of indie-spirited oddities with which he first made his name.” – Mark Kermode, The Guardian UK
“Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight” are modest, charming movies that together add up to the great romantic epic of a generation defined, in the popular mind and our therapists’ offices, by hedged bets, easy ironies and perpetual confusion. Mr. Linklater’s shooting style is so graceful and unobtrusive, and Mr. Hawke and Ms. Delpy inhabit their characters with such conviction, that the challenge and originality of the movies are easy to overlook.“Before Midnight” is a wonderful paradox: a movie passionately committed to the ideal of imperfection that is itself very close to perfect.” -The New York Times
Catch Before Midnight on July 10, showing in all theaters nationwide. For updates and promos, please Like Before Midnight on Facebook (www.facebook.com/
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