Evolution of Love in the Before Trilogy

Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy challenges our idealized versions of romantic relationships but also reaffirms our belief in love. All three films focus on Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), who first fall in love on a spontaneous trip to Vienna in summer 1994. Separated by ten year intervals, the evolution of love is depicted just through conversations between the couple. Before Sunrise contemplates what might be; Before Sunset questions what could or should be; Before Midnight demonstrates what is.

Each film is a window into life, depicting the possibilities and disappointments of one’s twenties, thirties, and forties. Together, they have become an ongoing collective experiment in embodying the passage of time. Each of the three films captures a unique facet of a relationship as time progresses. Before Sunrise creates an encounter for Jesse and Celine as they first discover their connection- the process of falling in love. In Before Sunset, they reconnect for the first time in nearly a decade, sharing their disillusionments and unhappiness, while also dealing with families and their careers. The suffocating weight of their responsibilities makes real love look like a fantasy. The trilogy’s final instalment, Before Midnight, depicts what real love looks like as Celine and Jesse’s connection has now weathered two decades and two children.

Jesse and Celine’s lives naturally become more complicated over eighteen years. However, their connection transforms and deepens through their complications. Before Sunrise romanticized love on a summer night. Before Sunset perceived it as something that might slip. Before Midnight looks it straight in the eye and calls it as it is. Jesse and Celine’s connection in Before Sunrise doesn’t look very much like the one by the end of Before Midnight. But as Jesse explains it, “If you want true love, then this is it. This is real life. It’s not perfect, but it’s real.”

Movies: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight