Antes del anochecer

The 56th San Francisco International came to a close at the magnificent Castro Theatre with a showing of Richard Linklater's "Before Midnight", the third in Linklater's series of "Before…" films. Preceded by "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset", the film continues the story of Jesse and Celine, now a middle-aged, two child couple on vacation in Greece. Things are not quite right between the two, and there is much to be said between them. So they talk. For two hours. And it is absolutely enthralling.

I have to admit that I haven't seen the first two films. I was aware of them, but they just never jumped out at me as something I had to see. I admire Linklater's work ( I thought last year's "Bernie" was one of the best films of the year) but just never had a reason to put seeing those films above others I had more interest in. I attended the screening mainly because it was the closing night film, but had concerns that not having seen the previous two would put me at a disadvantage in appreciating his latest. Festival friend (and "Before…" series lover) Stacy McCarthy assured me the film stands on its own.

She was right. Nothing much goes on in this film but conversations between people, but these conversations are fascinating and have a sense of reality about them often missing from films of this nature. Credit for that obviously goes to director Linklater and actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who collaborated on the script. It doesn't hurt that the film was shot in Greece, but the picturesque beauty of that country comes second to the riveting portrayal of a couple at the stage of life where the often painful questioning of a couple's future begins.

Two hours with these characters flew by, and as the credits rolled my first thoughts were about how much I really liked the film, and how I need to think more "out of the box" when it comes to selecting films to view. I'm guilty of often limiting my scope, and I'm thankful that Film Festivals force me to widen my film horizons.

www.worstshowontheweb.com

It's 9 years after 'Before Sunset' in the 3rd movie of the Before series. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are unmarried living in Paris with their twin daughters. Jesse has written 2 more books. It's one of the last days of their summer vacation in Greece. Jesse sees his son Hank off after spending the summer with him. Hank's mom is still angry and Jesse wants so much to spend more time with him in Chicago. Celine is thinking about taking a government job with complications.

They are 41. They have kids. It has the naturalistic long takes very much in keeping with the previous movies. I love the sly humor and human scale of their lives. There is also something great about growing old with these characters. This is what comes after happily-ever-after of the second movie. I do like the scenes with Jesse and Celine alone more than the scenes with other people. I don't mind the other characters but I loved the private moments with just those two wandering around bullshitting. Also it's great to have them continue their relationship with their problems.

This is the worst of the 'Before' trilogy.

The movie is preachy to a tea with its dialogue which loses the natural charm of the first two movies. Everything feels scripted now, or at least most of the interactions do now.

The wide-eyed outing of the first movie is progressively turned more dour with each instalment, and this climax puts it to an insufferable degree. I wanted to turn it off at the 45-minute mark, but I stayed to see if there were any redeeming qualities to come - there weren't. The last 30-50 minutes of the film are nails on chalkboard levels of galling.

The unique, somewhat documentary, style of the first film and, to a lesser extent, its sequel, is almost entirely lost in this instalment. There is an impressive one shot of the family driving a car, that lasts for about 20 minutes, but the dialogue in the scene was many notches lesser than its predecessors.

This movie is a stream of negative stimuli - about the climate, about technology, about relationships, about inequality between the sexes; everything is negative. And the dialogue between characters and the inclusion of outlandish stories and statements that are supposed to ring true about the differences between men and women, just come off as incredibly sexist for both parties and incredibly forced. There is a story delivered by a side character that purports that men only care about their penis, while women care about everyone else first. Like seriously? That's not only a horrendous generalisation to attribute to men but also a statement that reinforces the gender roles of the female caregiver. And for a film that tries so hard and in your face with its feminist and 'women are oppressed' themes, that comes off as extremely paradoxical.

The only benefit that comes from finishing this movie is a series of warnings drilled into your head about how toxic generalisation thinking is and how resentful relationships can become if your view of the world is rooted in pessimism. Don't be like that - don't become these characters. And, don't think that getting older forces these negative changes. Watch the first film to be hopeful about the world and spontaneity; watch the second to learn things can seem rooted in place, but change can still happen; and ignore this film.

I just saw Richard Linklater's Before Midnight his newest and third film about Jesse and Celine the couple who meet as young adults in Before Sunrise and re-meet as adults in Before Sunset (one of my five favorite films).

This is simply brilliant film making: funny, raw, emotionally honest and complicated. The couple (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy who both co-wrote with Linklater) are now in their 40s and face some very real challenges to their menage. I started laughing and crying within about 3 minutes and both emotions kept up until the very end. Everyone sat through the credits so they could wipe their faces clean. Brilliant acting . . .

This film gives one hope for the state of American film making and reminds you that Linklater is one of our most underrated auteurs. I sincerely hope he continues and I live long enough to see the couple well into their senior years.

Even if you have never seen the first two movies, do not miss this one.

First and foremost, this is not your typical mainstream summer movie. However, if you're reading this, then I'm sure you've already seen the two preceding films, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. If you have, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. This movie is driven by the characters and their dialog. No fancy special effects, no elaborate sets, no uber-popular actors to stuff in the movie to make people watch it. Just great dialog from two excellent actors.

Now that that's out of the way, I was a little uninterested when hearing about this movie, that it was filmed in Greece. However, after seeing the film tonight, I find that the setting was quite lovely and really had little to do with the movie itself. The movie was more about how these two main characters are dealing with getting older and being parents, and how over time, your opinions about things and about each other can change.

One thing I've always liked about these movies is the gritty realism of the two characters. Being an American myself, and previously having a French girlfriend (and living in France), I can totally relate to the two characters and the idiosyncrasies that are attributed to both of them in this story of their lives.

This movie was, once again, a model example of good dialog and great characters! I was very happy to see this movie, and I'm glad to see the writers haven't lost their touch. This movie was written by not only the director, but also the two main actors, and this series is really their "baby" - you can tell much love and care went into these films, even though they are all shot very quickly and with a small budget. I love how there are very few cuts in most of the scenes, and you can tell that everything about this movie was simple. This is a true breath of fresh air in time full of poorly-written movies and cheap special effects.