when romanticism meets reality

You know how I always (semi-jokingly) say that the High School Musical series is the best cinematic trilogy of all time? I think Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy may have it beat.

In the first film, “Before Sunrise”, two students have a chance encounter on a train and we follow them around Vienna for a night. In the second film (Before Sunset) we spend the day with them in Paris, 9 years later. And “Before Midnight” has us journey with them on a holiday to Greece. Plot-wise, nothing too major happens, that was never the intention, but instead we get dialogue-rich scenes that explore the connection of these two people and through their conversations we, the viewers, learn a little bit more about ourselves.

I heard someone break down the series like this:

• Before Sunrise asks what might be
• Before Sunset asks what could/should be
• Before Midnight shows us what is

The portrayal of connection is truly something beautiful and the navigation of it makes the films so grounded. You see how what eventually ends up blossoming into love between these two people is carried over the course of almost two decades, romanticism meets reality, but their bond endures. Love isn’t always pretty, perfect and romantic and it is painful at times. But it’s powerful.

I also appreciate how messy Before Midnight was, the series wasn’t tied up neatly in a happily ever after. Nothing was left fully resolved when the credits rolled.

From a storytelling standpoint, I loved the long shots, especially their walk and talks and the dialogue flowed so naturally. Linklater said he set out to make a film about an emotion or an essence, there wasn’t a lot of plot (especially in the first two films), but it was character rich and captivating. I could go on and on, but I shan’t. However, I will say that I took issue with the fact that there was no sunrise in Before Sunrise and no sunset in Before Sunset. I think that Before Midnight ended at midnight, so I’ll give it a pass.