What I Love About Richard Linklater's Before Trilogy

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Disclaimer: All reasonable comments are welcome, including reasoned disagreements. You will be banned for foolish talk, harassment, and hate speech on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life. I believe in freedom of association and, by extension, freedom of dissociation from you.

[@Huhhuhwhuhuhh]

Before I start my own commentary, I want to inform you that I am 28. I watched the second movie at random when I was 18 and it was profound but I hadn't lived enough to understand the pain and existential questions that Jesse and Celine discuss while walking around in Paris. For whatever reason, I decided to watch the trilogy in order over the span of three days this week. Frankly, I ate up the romance of the first. I didn't pick it apart or call it unrealistic. Even if it was highly romantic, it was still realistic because they make poor judgement calls (not making an effort to stay in touch) and were just as idealistic as I was in the beginning of my twenties. In the second movie, I deeply resonated with Celine, now 28 and experienced with heartbreak and what ifs. My feelings over the third movie highlight my current inexperience; I was heartbroken by their fighting. I felt like I was witnessing my aunt and uncle fight or something, begging them to remember their love for one another. Now that I have watched a few videos like this narrated by people who have lived through the reality of long term relationship, I see that there's truth to it and I don't know what to do with that. I don't know that I could stick around after someone told me they didn't love me anymore. My point is, given I have a lasting relationship like Jesse and Celine's in my life, I'm interested to see what I will feel for the third movie with age. Overall, I think the trilogy is a masterpiece!

[@domwalker6526]

Absolutely amazing trilogy. My favorite is before Sunset but it is a whole. I feel this is an accurate depiction of love and it feels real

[@moviegoer0657]

Completely agree! Sunset is also my favorite.

[@domwalker6526]

@@moviegoer0657 the ending is one of the best cliff hangers all time

[@moviegoer0657]

@@domwalker6526 Great ending.

[@trevorseggebruch3049]

I watched all 3 of these movies for the first time in one day. What a great experience!

[@linkbiff1054]

I was really hoping that 2022 would have had a 4th instalment

[@london8615]

same but i like it as a trilogy, if they were to do a 4th i’d rather it be when the actors are more older, that would be dope

[@chabicanada7741]

Perhaps in 2040…

[@zetsub0u115]

Funnily enough I just started Before Midnight earlier today but both its predecessors are some of the most beautiful movies I've seen

[@clumsydad7158]

The switching European settings are charming, somewhat reminiscent of what woody allen has been doing for the past decade plus. Trains are a classic setting for films. It's always nice to see long-term connections between films or a director's oeuvre. The whole topic of the change in languages within relationships is great; normally some kind of arc from florid/idealized to minimal/utilitarian. It's navigating the daily issues while saving at least a bit of the flame of romance as well.

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Great breakdown of these films. I know i need to watch them. Only saw one years ago and it was too talky for my taste but i think at 37 and having a foreign relationship under my belt i will have a way better appreciation for it😊

[@BeckyLStoutWriter]

This is my favorite movie trilogy. I've seen so many interviews with the actors and director, and one thing that comes up is how everyone thought the dialogue was improvised, because it sounds so natural. But no, every single word was scripted. So, Richard Linklater once told Julie Delpy that, because of that, most people won't know how hard they worked on it as the writers. Well, I disagree. Other writers will know. I knew. And as someone who used to be a writer, I know how hard it is to write dialogue that sounds natural. So yeah, I'd have to say that, whilst anyone can enjoy these films, they are very much writers movies. Thank you and forgive my wordiness. 😌

[@alancantu2557]

That’s incredible, I had no idea they were all scripted. It felt like improvised, casual, yet interesting dialogue between two lovers in each film. In the last picture, the big argument they have almost feels like both Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy were throwing quips at each other and revealing some subconscious feelings from their personal love lives. The fact that all 3 scripts were written is a testament to the writers’ skills and the actors’ talent to make it all come together naturally.

[@iakona23]

Yes great choice for a review and I’m so glad that Criterion came out with this box set. I also like that in the third film they used the home in Greece of the great travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor that he designed and built and lived in for most of his life.

[@darthelooi8021]

Great video! I saw the first two in two days but didn't know there was a third one so saw that a few weeks later. For me, it is as a whole that these movies go from "just good" to very good and profound. I'll need to rewatch them soon.

[@kinglear6150]

I only recently saw these movies, in order, and loved them. However I must say the last one was heartbreaking. It seems to me they had a better grip of what love is or should be when they when younger, but by the third one they opted to try the easy way out of almost every uncomfortable situation. They failed to build their actual relationship with the proper foundations. Now, the movie is realistic, but only in the sense that it is realistic according to the decisions they took, which is not to say that is always going to happen to any relationship. Great movies, though, even if the third one is a downer.

[@anne-mariepetersen8501]

I watched the first one when it came out and then only just watched Before sunset last week and i was scared to watch it because before sunrise was so pivotal for me, I was 14 when I watched it. I loved Celine , and I have travelled alot due to seeing an anti 90s heroine who lived her truth. I loved Before Sunset and I was keen to watch Before Midnight but I'm finding it hard in NZ to buy an online copy . This movie was seminal to me. I love your take on it, thank you.

[@ZZ-rz4hm]

Excellent trilogy. Thoughts on Linklater's Boyhood?

[@clydekamiya1618]

Awesome review, I didn’t watch the full thing because that 3 min intro was spot on, I just wanted a grasp of why it’s so good without knowing why it’s so good. And you sir nailed that ! Thank you keep posting more !

[@thegrimelite]

Great videos man

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@asiancollegeofteachers5870]

Thank you again for a detailed analysis. I love to watch all your reviews especially the classic one. Why don't you make a review on some of the movies of Pedro Almodovar. They are really great.

[@denisepgalloway]

Great commentary. Ethan Hawke and I were born the same year, and I always feel like when I watch the 3 films it takes me back to where I was in my own romance at his character’s age in each one. I can relate to the first two, because it was a similar situation minus the foreign country and the writer part. What I mean is feeling, insecurity about feelings and opinions, passion, friendship, changing your life for someone etc. I just never married or had kids with the Jesse I knew for 30+ years.

[@JoeCasanovax]

my local played the trilogy (first two on 35mm) last night, I would have gone but went to see spike lee speak instead :) I adore Before Sunset This trilogy is like Anglophone Rohmer almost. love it.

[@laurentdupasquier7872]

Yes I immediately thought about the Rohmer connection but it is the first time i ve come across someone else mentioning it

[@laurentdupasquier7872]

and then Truffaut's Antoine Doinel saga also comes to mind

[@bialima99]

Muito bom! Gostaria de um vídeo sobre esses atalhos e mudanças de layout no modo foco

[@NRGarno]

off topic, but have you had a chance to check out aftersun? would love to hear your thoughts about it.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yes, I wrote about it on letterboxd. brace yourself.

[@moviegoer0657]

My favorite trilogy of all time!

[@colinneighbers4741]

Julie Delpy is amazing in White (Blanc) so I’ll have to check this trilogy out 🤔

[@makbruno1]

Love this trilogy

[@leafm1181]

Interesting

[@Glotaku]

My favorite trilogy

[@MikeyRumi180]

I am not sure how I feel about the 3rd one because Celine goes full psycho in that one. AND I know Julie wrote that as Ethan did for most of these 3 movies.... although they get no credit in the lovely 1st one...

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I do not understand the phrase "full psycho" as applied to her character.

[@clumsydad7158]

I can dig it ... Ethan Hawke fan

[@asiancollegeofteachers5870]

First to view you

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@asiancollegeofteachers5870]

@@LearningaboutMovies Welcome. You are the best ❤️❤️ Very knowledgeable reviews.

[@carljcreighton]

I like the first one a lot but the second two meh

[@grapsta]

I tried but just couldn't stand the dialogue . It's boring