Before Trilogy: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013): The Best Films On Philosophical Pursuit
Before Trilogy is an American romance film sequel directed by Richard Linklater consisting of Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013), and starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The film sequels were filmed in nine-year intervals and unfold the romantic relationship between two travellers, Jesse and Céline.
Having said that, Richard Linklater will remain one of the best directors of all time with his Boyhood (2014) and Slacker (1991)
Before Sunrise is the first instalment of the Before trilogy by Richard Linklater.
It is a story about an American traveller, Jesse Wallace, who was travelling by Eurail from Madrid to Vienna, and a French girl, Céline, returning from Budapest to Paris by the same train on June 16, 1994.
By chance, Jesse and Céline met while she had to change her seat next to a quarrelling German couple to sit across from Jesse. Their accidental meeting eventually flourished into a romantic relationship over the night. They left Vienna before sunrise promising that they will meet up again after six months on December 16, 1995.
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Directed by Richard Linklater and starred by Ethan Hawke (as Jesse) and Julie Delpy the Before trilogy spanned 20 years. It is Richard Linklater’s much-celebrated trilogy.
Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004) have 8.1 IMDB ratings while Before Midnight (2013) has 7.9. The film reviewing site Rottentomatoes had a 100 per cent positive reaction with a 93% audience score as a “thought-provoking and beautiful” film. Metacritic shows that Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight have 8.6, 8.7 and 8.3 user ratings with 78, 91 and 94 per cent general scores, respectively.
Rottentomatoes has 94% and 92% positive reactions and audience scores for Before Sunset while Before Midnight gets 98% and 82% positive and audience reactions and says that ” Before Midnight offers intelligent, powerfully acted perspectives on love, marriage, and long-term commitment”. According to The Guardian Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are the No 3 best romantic films of all time.
As for Before Sunrise, the film historian Thom Shone writes in the Economist, “If asked to provide a list of great American achievements over the past 20 years, I would say the election of Barack Obama in 2008, the iPhone and the speech with which Jesse first talks Céline off the train in “Before Sunrise”. “Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight are modest, charming movies that together add up to the greatest romantic epic of a generation defined by hedged bets, easy ironies and perpetual confusion”, according to The New York Times movie reviews.
Not only do these films present storylines and dilemmas that invite philosophical discussion, but the philosophical discussion itself is at the very heart of the trilogy. Critics analysed its neo-realism characteristics in the trilogy. It is one of the 101 best films on my watch list.
