You see, first movie starts with a fighting scene with an old couple and the last movie ends with them fighting and then laughing, this a completely brilliant movie.
Graciela Maranto I think that is the most beautiful aspect of this trilogy. The whole thing starts off with what would eventually be. As the arguing couple passes by Celine and Jesse, they seem to be almost bewildered and puzzled by what they are witnessing. In their lustful moment, they are blinded by what would eventually be reality. And yet at the same time, the arguing couple was what ignited the two, making way for the next cycle. Just so poetic and beautiful. :)
Graciela Maranto I remember reading that it was the woman telling the husband he drinks too much and him telling her like “do you blame me? I live with you” or Visa versa
I've learned a lot of lessons from them. I'm with someone new after being married for 2 years and I'm rewatching them again to try and help me learn from my mistakes and how to make this one last.
Everyone talks about StarWars, Lord of the rings, The Dark Knight, The Godfather...etc. Almost nobody talks about one the greatest film trilogies. All three films are beautiful and unique, thanx for talking about them... Linklater might be one of the most underapreciatted directors within Hollywood, more than an auteur he's a collaborative artist...
Most definitely. To add to this, just the dedication to continue the story and the progression of the characters every nine years, is true craftsmanship. I wonder if they have anything in mind for 2022.
I love Star Wars, the MCU and everything else. But the BEFORE series always has a special place to my heart. This is the point where I knew I am maturing.
The Before Trilogy is my favorite trilogy. I wish I had the opportunity to watch it in real time as they were released. The connection Linklater is able to create with Jesse and Celine is amazing. When every I suggest it to people I always tell them "You fall in love with the characters as they fall in love with each other."
you know i was thinking about something too, like when you watch the movies, as I did everyday for 3 days its a different experience when you watched the first in 95 and the next in 04 and so on - sometimes i wonder how we consume the media affects how we feel about it - there are ppl who quite literally grew up with this film emotionally at least - anyway its an amazing trilogy right up there with the greats
I grew up with them. Saw the first as a teenager, the second in my early 20’s and the last one in my early 30’s. I’m sad there won’t be a fourth, but I go back to these movies all the time. I get so much insight each time. And I’m more experienced and appreciate different points each time.
Richard Linklater is one of my favorite directors, and this trilogy is just a complete masterwork beyond almost anything else I've ever seen. I can't speak more highly of these films, they're just incredible, as was your video!
It's interesting how this trilogies has mirrored my understanding of life and relationships. I was 15 when the first movie was released, so I definitely had a similar perspective of love. And now many years later, I definitely have a very different understanding of what love is. Once it was about setting the world on fire, and today it's all about self sacrifice.
I saw Before Sunset first, then Before Sunrise, and finally Before Midnight. Maybe I was young and naive... but after seeing Before Sunset, what Jesse and Celine became an ideal for what a relationship should be. To find that meaningful connection between you and someone else. Celine's speech on the magic between 2 people struck a chord - the answer is in the attempt to reach this strange transcendent ideal of what love should, but never what you expect love to be.
I could tell Luca Guadagnino when he directed Call Me by Your Name was heavily inspired by Richard Linklater’s movie Before Sunrise, it feels so isolated, it’s mainly just about the connection of two characters Elio and Oliver and nothing more, just like Before Sunrise’s Jesse and Celine. Except the difference is the perspective of Call Me by Your Name is through Elio, a young teenager who’s discovering things about himself with his newfound attraction to Oliver, and with Before Sunrise the perspective’s more mutual on both Jesse and Celine.
"Before Midnight" is very realistic and apt conclusion to the trilogy.Realistic look at at a long lasting relationship. There is no such thing as a perfect relationship or a perfect couple. But couples who truly love each other, argue and fight about things but in the end, stay together and move forward together. A perfect blend of love, frustration, honesty and acceptance. NOT because they're getting older and bored and have nothing else to pursue. BUT because time has taught them about the realities of life and love and that includes moving forward and staying together as imperfect individuals in an imperfect relationship in an imperfect world. A perfect blend of love, frustration, honesty and acceptance. You can't have 1 without the other 3. Otherwise, the relationship won't last.
This is one of my favorite trilogies and I’m happy to have finally made a video about it. I’m curious; who here saw the films at the time of their release in 1995, 2004 and 2013? Do you think it affected your experience of these films (as opposed to watching them in a shorter amount of time)?
Yes I saw these films at the cinema on their release dates, and though I hadn't really thought about it before, I feel I have changed in so many ways over this time period, I am sure I would experience them differently if I saw them now for the first time. It's also one of my favourite trilogies, and I have watched them so many times that I almost know the dialogue by heart..........I was initially unsure about the casting of Ethan Hawke, for some reason I felt he wasn't the best choice, but did get used to him over time. Thanks for your video Tom I really enjoyed it!!
I came into the series after the second one, entranced by that movie, i immediately watched the first same night back in 2007. It is one of my favourite movies as it captures that raw visceral imperfect and fascinating connection we sometimes make with strangers which beautifully develops to something more over time I have rewatched the first 2 soo many times, but that 3rd one was tough to watch as the movie yet again in a claustrophobic room forces the viewer to viscerally witness the tumultuous part of relationships as the characters we have grown to love over the last 2 movies are forced to re-examine their connection with eyes of maturity and deeper acknowledgment of both their current realities which overshadows the whimsy optimism of the first 2 movies Stripped down, minimalist movies like these (and to some extent spike jonzes her) are the best formats to explore deeper themes of connections and romance between characters that we rarely see on screen Really hope theres a forth addition, because that third one....damn left me devastated (but loving it at the sametime)
Was born in 93, so that would've been tough. I had a class in college where we watched them back-to-back and discussed them, which also worked, although I would've loved to see them as they were released. That would've been really interesting.
I watched the first two of the trilogy in shock. It was the story of my life. I met a lovely Parisian girl on a ferry going to Ireland. She was a student at Sorbonne... My heart aches every time I watch this masterpiece of storytelling and filmmaking. I love storytelling, and your channel is art in itself.
‘The years shall run like rabbits, For in my arms I hold The Flower of the Ages, And the first love of the world.' But all the clocks in the city Began to whirr and chime: ‘O let not Time deceive you, You cannot conquer Time. W.H. Auden, As I Walked Out One Evening
I have a question: Does it matter who you married to if a relationship is bound to be exhausted and only left with responsibility? The reason behind the question is because I often see some couples they resulted their relationship with divorce, they concluded that all the conflicts and unhappiness are because he/her is not the right one, so does it matter who you married to in the beginning? We are not the same at each different age, we are growing and we are changing, we see love more deeply in age 40 than in 20, how we deal with the contradiction in our heart that this person or life is not what we wanted anymore? Should we train ourselves to love or should we follow our heart? Maybe we are just passes by to each other, it does not have to have a life time love story to prove our love is true.
You are aware my friend, you do this very well because you have a deeper understanding of the human language. It’s now what you say but how you say it, keep up this great work my brother... beautiful!
Please don't ever change who you are! Your video essays are always spoken intelligently, but you only speak on that which has truly affected you and caused you to ponder or mature in life. That is what seperates this channel from other cinema video essays and I pray you never change or subvert to others' expectations! Keep up the great work!
I was not expecting you to cover this trilogy and I am so excited that you did. I hold all three of these films very close to my own heart as it’s very relatable to everyone who has ever found a connection and after letting it go you realize, you’ve taken it for granted, even after doing everything that you could, sometimes just then it wasn’t meant to be as our hearts were too young, too naive, filled with hope of a future that we have all the time in the world to recapture it. I am so happy to have found my beloved but I will always remember the connection I had with someone else at a time when I was younger and for reasons of her staying with someone else that she felt tied to (due to history and afraid that if she left him his life would fall apart, this kid was 24 and suffered manic episodes and mild depression; never appreciate or paid attention to her when she was around and only missed her when she was away. They must have been on and off for 5 years. And I couldn’t keep waiting. I had to move on. Toughest thing I did and everyday I am so thankful to have found another woman who appreciates me and sees me for what my love is; unconditional, with so much to give, you just have to leap with me) (I tell this story in case anyone else has had a similar story as mine. You’ll find someone else if that person really can’t make that leap with you)
I also love this trilogy. The 3rd film is so challenging but so real. My ex has fallen out of love with me and I've found a connection with someone else. It's like I've gone from part 3 to part 2 and I'm so confused. I want my wife back, we were so good together, but Ive met someone else and it feels so special.
This sort of love has happened to me with my first love and then serious relationship. We met on a whim, no expectations or projections - just two souls who happened to be at the right place in the right time. He lived in my country and I lived in his country. Both of us explored each other's worlds yet it was extra special for some reason? I remember so much.... I almost despise my awfully good memory as it's painful but also blissful. I think about that relationship and feel it too beautiful to deserve. I'm unsure what good I've done in this world to experience something so extraordinary.. so out of this world. It felt like I was in another universe when in his arms.. yet gravity always pulled me down. With him, my heart wasn't shakey or anxious but I felt so calm.. so warm.. so vulnerable yet so strong. Unfortunately, unlike the movies, reality does kick in and I don't have hopes for a sequel or part 2 as we've ended things due to forces out of our control. As much as I absolutely wish to be with this special person.. how much I'd like that universe where we'd have more time together. We've even confessed to each other that it was the first time we were so comfortable to be our true selves with another being - I've never felt so loved and to love someone so deeply before. Perhaps that's what first loves are? I'm beyond thankful for his existence and that we experienced something so indescribably...... Amazing...... Ecstasy...... Growth......And yet hints of doubts....... Sufferings...... Endurance...... Pain..... And soon, acceptance.
the first films was a dream scenario for most people. meet a beautiful girl on holiday and fall in love. 2nd films: they reconnect they decide to pursue their crazy romantic story and leave their normal life behind forever-ultimate fantasy. 3rd film: we see them paying for that decision
Obviously, their decision to pursue their relationship came with costs, but I didn’t see them paying for it as if it was a bad decision. Being together was always going to be challenging no matter how well they clicked. One of them had to move to another continent and leave his extended family for great lengths of time. He’s a bit of a slob and self involved. She seems slightly neurotic in the first film and progressively more in the ones that follow. The fight scene illuminates all the the fault lines in their relationship, but it also reveals two people who care deeply for each other. They could really use some counseling to help them work out the issues which have been simmering below the surface for a while.
Even though I like Ethan Hawke, I’m not familiar with this trilogy of films. The concept of 3 films with the same characters over 18 years is very interesting.
Yesterday I met someone and I felt like a connection and when he said 'he was going', I felt that I should hold on to him so I asked his social media. That was surely a 'Before sunrise' moment in my life.
You are so beautiful. So many of us have been on this huge journey for years now. Ours lives suddenly were turned inside out. We spent our "time in the desert". We researched and studied, and gained personal wisdom...but in all the searching through ancient texts, philosophers of another time, we are at a time now where we just feel we are waiting for something, and can't really "go back" to who we were, and don't know exactly who we are in these times. You are a deeply cherished voice to us, a gentle reminder speaking is soothing tones, and whispering things that bring to mind the archetypes are not gone, they have always been with us, and we are them.
Another thing I love about this channel Is the drop of book recommendations. They are really worth checking out as I haven't heard them before. Like those books you mentioned in the videos of Archetype characters King, Magician...
I have watched this trilogy for almost every month. The last movie never fails to make me very emotional especially the part where Jessie says to Celine that he's giving her his whole life.
I always loved these films because of their honesty and kindness. The couple behaves in such an honest and realistic way that you cannot help by empathize with them. I have not seen the last one but I will check it out soon!
This page is one of the best on UA-cam...Please don't stop making videos ever! This might come off as a fanboy comment but I literally have chills running down my spine while watching your videos
I have been reading comments here and it made me more curious about these movies. I haven’t watched them but definitely I’ll do. I just want to find the best time to do so.. I’m so excited
I cant tell you how amazed I am at these videos you make! They are well researched, written, and produced. I've found myself in tears in many of your videos. You have an amazing talent and I wanted to share my appreciation to you. Please continue to produce these amazing videos about the analysis of film, life and our existence!
Wow, this was a really good analysis with well-chosen words. Thanks for sharing these contemplations. I agree that conflicts are sometimes necessary, we should embrace them, like anything else. It's only when we shire away from the things that we shouldn't, it's when the problems get bigger.
thank you so much for this video, this trilogy its my favorite of all time. not a lot of people know those movies but its one of the best movies ever made. the humanity and the reality of relationship in the trilogy it's amazing, i had the chance to watch the last one in the movies and the theater was empty n an opening weekend. i felt sad and happy and sad at the same time. thank you for another great video about masterpeace of film making.
I recommended it to so many people when they asked about my favourite movies, but I seriously doubt if anyone of them really watched the whole series. It’s like saying: hey there’s something expressed the true feelings of connections I once experienced with someone, into those beautiful moments and details. I don’t even know whether the movies described the idealism of relationships in my head or I am forming mine because of watching it. But I know for those people who watched it and loved it so much just like me, we are a big step closer of knowing each other better than others.
“The story of Jesse And Celine has shown us a Universe that is messy and random and can make us feel like we have no control over our lives but then again the same Universe also gives us these brief windows of opportunity that have the potential to change everything. Here we find the importance for us to act on these rare moments to chase after what we really makes us happy what makes life worth living this ofcourse takes courage.”
just watched 3 of your videos back to back to back. you explore themes in movies that i love a lot and moved me deeply. you even made me think about some things that i hadn't previously, despite watching each of these films repeatedly. you've earned another sub. keep up the good work.
I fell in love with a foreign exchange student from spain. My connection with her is so unique and she leaves in 5 weeks and we talk little about it because it upsets both of us. Our bond is sooo sooo different and real and she has shown me that. Will I ever see her again? Im 17 in Highschool
Your videos are outstanding and this one is no exception. Thank you for highlighting why this trilogy is like no other movie love story. It feels like the real thing!
As much as I love this trilogy, and how much they make me feel hopeful, they also make me feel sad and feel like I was born in the wrong generation. I'm an old soul, and most of the people you can possibly be with this days are either into social media or think so highly of themselves. It is hard. If I talk to someone on a train ride right now, I'll probably be seen as a creepy guy or worse, get viral for all the wrong reasons.
This is a wonderful trilogy and a great analysis. I think the key is this - the 'high' a couple gets in the early stages will fade and is largely beyond our control but it can be replaced by something deeper as time goes on: true intimacy, which is very much within our control. This demands communicating in constructive ways that don't involve finger pointing or belittling the other person's perspective but listening in ways that really allow the other to feel heard. IMO, the key to long term relationships is how to handle conflict. Conflict can cause tremendous damage or draw a couple into intimacy. The choice is ours. It just takes learning some basic skills and breaking unhealthy habits. I actually think the fight scene, while having many positive aspects, also shows some pretty disfunctional tendencies - but it is reality for many couples.
Wonderful. I saw the whole trilogy for the first time when it was released on blu-ray in 2017, and it affected me more than any other media I saw that year. The series had a bit of mythical build-up in my mind as well and still surpassed it. I remember reading a review for Before Sunset in my local paper, and marveling at the concept of this real-time sequel to a romance film I had never heard of. But I never got around to seeing it, and soon a whole new cycle of time had passed. I'm glad I corrected this oversight, even it it took far too many years. I can't say enough - or watch other people do the same - about this trilogy.
I saw the trilogy in order when before midnight released. So I didn't grow with it because I was too young. But it still became my one of my favorite films of all time. Any of the 3 movies could be your favorite of the series and a case could be made for it. My favorite is Before Midnight simply because it has one of my 10 favorite 3rd acts in film
I love this review of one of my all time fave film by Linklater. Hawke and Delphy created a chemistry which is incomparable. Thank you for making this awesome insight.
This was great. Made me want to rewatch all 3. I watched the first two 10 years ago and the last one when it came out. I wonder how it would feel to watch all 3 in a short amount of time.
This trilogy is awesome. This movie will forever be a masterpiece! The realistic approach of the phases of a relationship is nailed perfectly here! Watching the evolution of their love was bittersweet and it hit home. Forever will treasure this.
Great video again! I really like Linklater and his movies too. My personal favourite is „Boyhood“. I am looking forward very expectantly for your next Video-Essay. Thank you so much for your work here, it is really compelling. (Only as an idea: How about a video about the Nouvelle Vague or just one of the films of it? I guess you would do a good job at analysing it! :D)
i checked these movies out recently and couldn't stop crying for some reason. It is so real that its too sad. Its a beautiful movie. We are all as confused as the characters.
Interesting analysis, I actually just watched all three movies back to back. I kind of have a different take on it, but with some overlap on your commentary. I actually think that both Celine and Jesse are totally incompatible but fell in love with the idea of being in love with each other. I think the moment with the fortune teller in the first one was kind of a clue. Jessie makes fun of and dismisses what she said and how she behaved, Celine didn't really like that and also commented when Jessie asks her what she doesn't like about him and she brings up that point. I think there was of course infatuation and lust in the first movie and that feeling of connecting with someone new, but you dont fall in love in a day, because love either comes or doesn't come once you have spent more time with someone and had an opportunity to see how compatible both people actually are. I think both had an idealistic notion of what love is, but love is actually something more practical. I don't really go along with couples destined to grow apart no matter what, just depends what foundation your relationship is actually built on. All throughout the movies it became clear, they don't see the world the same way, there was so much clashing all the time but I think they got together cos they wanted to fill in the time they didnt actually spend together, with the memory of that first encounter being the foundation of the relationship, and trying to live out the what could have been, years later by filling in the time because they felt they needed to but I didn't get the impression there was actually enough there between them for the relationship to last. Now there was definitely some chemistry and sexual tension and you you could feel that, but again all of that rests on the foundation of the memory of that first encounter and not from having got to know each other better over time because the opposite was actually happening, as they got to know each other and realising they just aren't compatible and are two very different people. That doesnt bode well for longevity and the potential for clashing would just be too high. Hopefully I'm making some sense, and I absolutely loved the movies, all of them but I didn't see it as a love story but more a story of two people falling in love with the memory of feeling something at one point in time, and spending 20+ years trying to re-live or recreate that moment and basically not succeeding. Thanks for reading my analysis and I just subbed your channel.
I just re-read your take and while I do think the incompatibility was there and that maybe they did fall in love with the idea of loving each other, I struggle to see the purer form of love you compare the 'ideation love' to. Every love and relationship has compatibility issues, IMO (though I'm no expert in this domain) - it's how those incompatibilities are resolved and worked out. And, I feel that the couple were able to resolve (or at least mitigate) their issues. They met when they were in their early 20s. Spent time with others and within different relationships in their 20s and rekindled some form of something in their early 30s with each other. Their relationship had meaning to them and they valued one another enough get together and stay together for a decade (10+ years). They also had children together. They were married. Their lives were intermingled. There was friction, but they didn't and didn't want to separate as they saw a future together (i.e., there was alignment in the way they saw the world to some extent). My point being, I believe they did love each other. Though I did get the impression that they both became a bit jaded from prior relationships and that maybe that they rushed building a life together. The more I think about it, the more I agree with the premise of the video that it's just the trials & tribulations of long-term relationships over the course of one's life: 20s = romanticism & screwing around, 30s = settling down and racing against the 'age clock', 40s = friction & doubling down (haha!), 50s+ = acceptance. I think the movie highlights how significant an endeavour a relationship is and that it is something to take very seriously (more so than buying a house, etc.) because it takes so much effort and time. On another parallel point, I recognised how the delivery or method of communication by them both changed - they seemed to become more defensive, more ingrained in representing their wants & needs as time passed (maybe more repressed & resentful from sacrificing their individual/personal time & effort on/in the relationship) - they could definitely benefit from intermediation on communicating (lol). Also, while I kinda agree that people don't necessarily change, their motivations, intentions, wants/needs/desires and circumstances do - or in this couple's case, the aforementioned attributes don't really change, life just gets stressful and friction arises. I feel that people overcomplicate relationships (we all do!). It generally is about whether you can communicate peacefully and resolve frictions, whether you're attracted to one another, whether you like spending time with each other, and whether your future goals & needs/wants align.
@@bq4416 Some good points, did make me think again about my interpretation. But I think when you mentioned jaded after having other relationships, I think this plus the time that elapsed between them, really changed them into different people so to speak. I think they so desperately wanted to rekindle what they had and wanted to try and pick up where they left off but again I'm going to stick with my original pov. They just weren't in love with the current versions of themselves when they met up again, rather trying to travel back to the past. It would would have felt painful, because there is a big chunk of time missing where they didn't get to actually pick up again which was 6 months or so after they initially met but then they meet again much later, 10 years is a long time, a lot can happen in that time. Also again, they loved the idea of being in love but the reality was quite different. I just never really saw two people truly in love but two very idealistic but cynical people so enthralled by their first encounter, thinking they have more than they actually did, and as their lives moved along when back together, they come to the realization that they just aren't that compatible or genuinely in love, even if they half-heartedly accept each other, it doesn't still appear that they are happy being together and I think that friction had been there for a while, but also the signs were there in the first movie, they ignored them or glossed over them but they had some big differences on their world view or how they view others etc. So yeah I just never saw them as two people really in love but wanted to be and failed somewhat when it really came down to being in a relationship with each other. Maybe you could be right that as we age, this breakdown can tend to happen, but my problem still is that I don't think there was enough actual love there as a solid foundation to build a successful relationship on.
You see, first movie starts with a fighting scene with an old couple and the last movie ends with them fighting and then laughing, this a completely brilliant movie.
Last one? I'm crossing my fingers for Part 4 in 2022. I want that 9 year tradition to keep going :)
Graciela Maranto I think that is the most beautiful aspect of this trilogy. The whole thing starts off with what would eventually be. As the arguing couple passes by Celine and Jesse, they seem to be almost bewildered and puzzled by what they are witnessing. In their lustful moment, they are blinded by what would eventually be reality. And yet at the same time, the arguing couple was what ignited the two, making way for the next cycle. Just so poetic and beautiful. :)
oh i forgot about that, the German couple in the train! hahahaha - what were they fighting aboout>>>>?
@@thesilveraries Nop, does anyone known german to transcript?
Graciela Maranto I remember reading that it was the woman telling the husband he drinks too much and him telling her like “do you blame me? I live with you” or Visa versa
The three films aren't a trilogy, they are a textbook on life.
I've learned a lot of lessons from them. I'm with someone new after being married for 2 years and I'm rewatching them again to try and help me learn from my mistakes and how to make this one last.
@@rc59191 same, even tho we all might have different choices and solutions but we can make a good one.
Everyone talks about StarWars, Lord of the rings, The Dark Knight, The Godfather...etc. Almost nobody talks about one the greatest film trilogies. All three films are beautiful and unique, thanx for talking about them... Linklater might be one of the most underapreciatted directors within Hollywood, more than an auteur he's a collaborative artist...
Most definitely. To add to this, just the dedication to continue the story and the progression of the characters every nine years, is true craftsmanship. I wonder if they have anything in mind for 2022.
I love Star Wars, the MCU and everything else. But the BEFORE series always has a special place to my heart. This is the point where I knew I am maturing.
The Before Trilogy is my favorite trilogy. I wish I had the opportunity to watch it in real time as they were released. The connection Linklater is able to create with Jesse and Celine is amazing. When every I suggest it to people I always tell them "You fall in love with the characters as they fall in love with each other."
you know i was thinking about something too, like when you watch the movies, as I did everyday for 3 days its a different experience when you watched the first in 95 and the next in 04 and so on - sometimes i wonder how we consume the media affects how we feel about it - there are ppl who quite literally grew up with this film emotionally at least - anyway its an amazing trilogy right up there with the greats
I grew up with them. Saw the first as a teenager, the second in my early 20’s and the last one in my early 30’s. I’m sad there won’t be a fourth, but I go back to these movies all the time. I get so much insight each time. And I’m more experienced and appreciate different points each time.
Happy Anniversary to Before Sunset!! This year marks 20 years since it came out in 2004 and stole our hearts. That ending STILL makes me gasp.
Richard Linklater is one of my favorite directors, and this trilogy is just a complete masterwork beyond almost anything else I've ever seen. I can't speak more highly of these films, they're just incredible, as was your video!
Boyhood too!
It's interesting how this trilogies has mirrored my understanding of life and relationships. I was 15 when the first movie was released, so I definitely had a similar perspective of love. And now many years later, I definitely have a very different understanding of what love is. Once it was about setting the world on fire, and today it's all about self sacrifice.
"Once it was about setting the world on fire, and today it's all about self sacrifice."
And now? 5 years later?
@@JamieG900 Balance.
Sacrifice is part in the relationship
Well said
I like how the time span from romanticism to realism in the movies kinda fits the change of the zeitgeist between the 90's and today.
Todays zeitgeist is not realism, we've had that and we may someday have it again, Im of the opinion that todays zeitgeist is self obsessed nihilism.
I couldnt agree more@@aikighost
I saw Before Sunset first, then Before Sunrise, and finally Before Midnight. Maybe I was young and naive... but after seeing Before Sunset, what Jesse and Celine became an ideal for what a relationship should be. To find that meaningful connection between you and someone else. Celine's speech on the magic between 2 people struck a chord - the answer is in the attempt to reach this strange transcendent ideal of what love should, but never what you expect love to be.
I could tell Luca Guadagnino when he directed Call Me by Your Name was heavily inspired by Richard Linklater’s movie Before Sunrise, it feels so isolated, it’s mainly just about the connection of two characters Elio and Oliver and nothing more, just like Before Sunrise’s Jesse and Celine. Except the difference is the perspective of Call Me by Your Name is through Elio, a young teenager who’s discovering things about himself with his newfound attraction to Oliver, and with Before Sunrise the perspective’s more mutual on both Jesse and Celine.
scifinerd17 please delete this. Luca guadagnino sweety im SO sorry
Finally someone who feels this way
"Before Midnight" is very realistic and apt conclusion to the trilogy.Realistic look at at a long lasting relationship. There is no such thing as a perfect relationship or a perfect couple. But couples who truly love each other, argue and fight about things but in the end, stay together and move forward together. A perfect blend of love, frustration, honesty and acceptance. NOT because they're getting older and bored and have nothing else to pursue. BUT because time has taught them about the realities of life and love and that includes moving forward and staying together as imperfect individuals in an imperfect relationship in an imperfect world. A perfect blend of love, frustration, honesty and acceptance. You can't have 1 without the other 3. Otherwise, the relationship won't last.
This is one of my favorite trilogies and I’m happy to have finally made a video about it. I’m curious; who here saw the films at the time of their release in 1995, 2004 and 2013? Do you think it affected your experience of these films (as opposed to watching them in a shorter amount of time)?
Yes I saw these films at the cinema on their release dates, and though I hadn't really thought about it before, I feel I have changed in so many ways over this time period, I am sure I would experience them differently if I saw them now for the first time. It's also one of my favourite trilogies, and I have watched them so many times that I almost know the dialogue by heart..........I was initially unsure about the casting of Ethan Hawke, for some reason I felt he wasn't the best choice, but did get used to him over time. Thanks for your video Tom I really enjoyed it!!
I came into the series after the second one, entranced by that movie, i immediately watched the first same night back in 2007.
It is one of my favourite movies as it captures that raw visceral imperfect and fascinating connection we sometimes make with strangers which beautifully develops to something more over time
I have rewatched the first 2 soo many times, but that 3rd one was tough to watch as the movie yet again in a claustrophobic room forces the viewer to viscerally witness the tumultuous part of relationships as the characters we have grown to love over the last 2 movies are forced to re-examine their connection with eyes of maturity and deeper acknowledgment of both their current realities which overshadows the whimsy optimism of the first 2 movies
Stripped down, minimalist movies like these (and to some extent spike jonzes her) are the best formats to explore deeper themes of connections and romance between characters that we rarely see on screen
Really hope theres a forth addition, because that third one....damn left me devastated (but loving it at the sametime)
one could watch them 9 years apart from the beginning, no matter when you start.
Was born in 93, so that would've been tough. I had a class in college where we watched them back-to-back and discussed them, which also worked, although I would've loved to see them as they were released. That would've been really interesting.
You should make one for I am Legend
I watched the first two of the trilogy in shock. It was the story of my life. I met a lovely Parisian girl on a ferry going to Ireland. She was a student at Sorbonne... My heart aches every time I watch this masterpiece of storytelling and filmmaking.
I love storytelling, and your channel is art in itself.
What happens in your story?
Bro, you can't stop on the beginning and not give us the end!
This channel has no haters. This channel can never have any haters. Everything is so well put. Bro, your videos are truly magical. :)
Just you wait
It's not just the voice
‘The years shall run like rabbits,
For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
And the first love of the world.'
But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.
W.H. Auden, As I Walked Out One Evening
I have a question: Does it matter who you married to if a relationship is bound to be exhausted and only left with responsibility? The reason behind the question is because I often see some couples they resulted their relationship with divorce, they concluded that all the conflicts and unhappiness are because he/her is not the right one, so does it matter who you married to in the beginning? We are not the same at each different age, we are growing and we are changing, we see love more deeply in age 40 than in 20, how we deal with the contradiction in our heart that this person or life is not what we wanted anymore? Should we train ourselves to love or should we follow our heart? Maybe we are just passes by to each other, it does not have to have a life time love story to prove our love is true.
You are aware my friend, you do this very well because you have a deeper understanding of the human language. It’s now what you say but how you say it, keep up this great work my brother... beautiful!
Thank you for the kind words! I'll keep at it!
The Poet ✌😄
Please don't ever change who you are! Your video essays are always spoken intelligently, but you only speak on that which has truly affected you and caused you to ponder or mature in life. That is what seperates this channel from other cinema video essays and I pray you never change or subvert to others' expectations! Keep up the great work!
I was not expecting you to cover this trilogy and I am so excited that you did. I hold all three of these films very close to my own heart as it’s very relatable to everyone who has ever found a connection and after letting it go you realize, you’ve taken it for granted, even after doing everything that you could, sometimes just then it wasn’t meant to be as our hearts were too young, too naive, filled with hope of a future that we have all the time in the world to recapture it. I am so happy to have found my beloved but I will always remember the connection I had with someone else at a time when I was younger and for reasons of her staying with someone else that she felt tied to (due to history and afraid that if she left him his life would fall apart, this kid was 24 and suffered manic episodes and mild depression; never appreciate or paid attention to her when she was around and only missed her when she was away. They must have been on and off for 5 years. And I couldn’t keep waiting. I had to move on. Toughest thing I did and everyday I am so thankful to have found another woman who appreciates me and sees me for what my love is; unconditional, with so much to give, you just have to leap with me) (I tell this story in case anyone else has had a similar story as mine. You’ll find someone else if that person really can’t make that leap with you)
Thank you for sharing that!
❤
I also love this trilogy. The 3rd film is so challenging but so real. My ex has fallen out of love with me and I've found a connection with someone else. It's like I've gone from part 3 to part 2 and I'm so confused. I want my wife back, we were so good together, but Ive met someone else and it feels so special.
U playing gymnopedie in the background broke my heart.
Yes. One of my favourite piano masterpieces. Heartbreakingly beautiful.
this is a well explained video. thank you.
You look like Pokimane
This sort of love has happened to me with my first love and then serious relationship. We met on a whim, no expectations or projections - just two souls who happened to be at the right place in the right time. He lived in my country and I lived in his country. Both of us explored each other's worlds yet it was extra special for some reason? I remember so much.... I almost despise my awfully good memory as it's painful but also blissful. I think about that relationship and feel it too beautiful to deserve. I'm unsure what good I've done in this world to experience something so extraordinary.. so out of this world. It felt like I was in another universe when in his arms.. yet gravity always pulled me down. With him, my heart wasn't shakey or anxious but I felt so calm.. so warm.. so vulnerable yet so strong. Unfortunately, unlike the movies, reality does kick in and I don't have hopes for a sequel or part 2 as we've ended things due to forces out of our control. As much as I absolutely wish to be with this special person.. how much I'd like that universe where we'd have more time together. We've even confessed to each other that it was the first time we were so comfortable to be our true selves with another being - I've never felt so loved and to love someone so deeply before. Perhaps that's what first loves are? I'm beyond thankful for his existence and that we experienced something so indescribably...... Amazing...... Ecstasy...... Growth......And yet hints of doubts....... Sufferings...... Endurance...... Pain..... And soon, acceptance.
I hope you two reconnect in the future and the universe makes that happen 🙏🏼
this was so well crafted. really compelling
Thanks!!
the first films was a dream scenario for most people. meet a beautiful girl on holiday and fall in love. 2nd films: they reconnect they decide to pursue their crazy romantic story and leave their normal life behind forever-ultimate fantasy. 3rd film: we see them paying for that decision
Obviously, their decision to pursue their relationship came with costs, but I didn’t see them paying for it as if it was a bad decision. Being together was always going to be challenging no matter how well they clicked. One of them had to move to another continent and leave his extended family for great lengths of time. He’s a bit of a slob and self involved. She seems slightly neurotic in the first film and progressively more in the ones that follow. The fight scene illuminates all the the fault lines in their relationship, but it also reveals two people who care deeply for each other. They could really use some counseling to help them work out the issues which have been simmering below the surface for a while.
Even though I like Ethan Hawke, I’m not familiar with this trilogy of films. The concept of 3 films with the same characters over 18 years is very interesting.
Ramon Thomas I cannot recommend these enough watch them as soon as you can
It makes these movies feel that much more real.
You are a true modern philosopher - among the best ever. Glad I am your patreon.
Yesterday I met someone and I felt like a connection and when he said 'he was going', I felt that I should hold on to him so I asked his social media. That was surely a 'Before sunrise' moment in my life.
You are so beautiful. So many of us have been on this huge journey for years now. Ours lives suddenly were turned inside out. We spent our "time in the desert". We researched and studied, and gained personal wisdom...but in all the searching through ancient texts, philosophers of another time, we are at a time now where we just feel we are waiting for something, and can't really "go back" to who we were, and don't know exactly who we are in these times. You are a deeply cherished voice to us, a gentle reminder speaking is soothing tones, and whispering things that bring to mind the archetypes are not gone, they have always been with us, and we are them.
Another thing I love about this channel
Is the drop of book recommendations.
They are really worth checking out as I haven't heard them before. Like those books you mentioned in the videos of Archetype characters King, Magician...
I have watched this trilogy for almost every month. The last movie never fails to make me very emotional especially the part where Jessie says to Celine that he's giving her his whole life.
There's something special about your voice.
The way you tell stories is really powerful, so use that power wisely...
Thank you :)
Like Stories of Old No, I'm the one who should thank you for teaching me to look under the surface.
Petar King for with great power, comes great responsibility
Ayahuasca does that do your voice.. am I wrong LSOO? ;)
I always loved these films because of their honesty and kindness. The couple behaves in such an honest and realistic way that you cannot help by empathize with them. I have not seen the last one but I will check it out soon!
This page is one of the best on UA-cam...Please don't stop making videos ever! This might come off as a fanboy comment but I literally have chills running down my spine while watching your videos
the fact that your voice sounds like the poet down by the river makes this video 100% perfect.
In a moment where I'm really struggling to figure out what I want from my heart your channel is, once again, inspirational. Thank you sir.
I have been reading comments here and it made me more curious about these movies. I haven’t watched them but definitely I’ll do. I just want to find the best time to do so.. I’m so excited
My favorite romance. I really love the Midnight. Thanks for the profound video...
I definitely never post anything...nada...zero...except here...this...One... So thank YOU for everything, Mister.
Your video is like a dissertation essay on this trilogy! Bravo!!!!
I cant tell you how amazed I am at these videos you make! They are well researched, written, and produced. I've found myself in tears in many of your videos. You have an amazing talent and I wanted to share my appreciation to you. Please continue to produce these amazing videos about the analysis of film, life and our existence!
The before trilogy are my absolute favorite movies thank you for making this it has only improved my relationship with the movies
What I wanna know is how many of you have seen the call back scene in waking life to two separate conversations in this movie.
You did such a great job dude! I’m so obsessed with these films, I binge watch them every year.
Wow, this was a really good analysis with well-chosen words. Thanks for sharing these contemplations. I agree that conflicts are sometimes necessary, we should embrace them, like anything else. It's only when we shire away from the things that we shouldn't, it's when the problems get bigger.
thank you so much for this video, this trilogy its my favorite of all time. not a lot of people know those movies but its one of the best movies ever made. the humanity and the reality of relationship in the trilogy it's amazing, i had the chance to watch the last one in the movies and the theater was empty n an opening weekend. i felt sad and happy and sad at the same time.
thank you for another great video about masterpeace of film making.
So deeply profound, your discussions. I'm thankful I found this channel.
I recommended it to so many people when they asked about my favourite movies, but I seriously doubt if anyone of them really watched the whole series.
It’s like saying: hey there’s something expressed the true feelings of connections I once experienced with someone, into those beautiful moments and details.
I don’t even know whether the movies described the idealism of relationships in my head or I am forming mine because of watching it.
But I know for those people who watched it and loved it so much just like me, we are a big step closer of knowing each other better than others.
“The story of Jesse And Celine has shown us a Universe that is messy and random and can make us feel like we have no control over our lives but then again the same Universe also gives us these brief windows of opportunity that have the potential to change everything. Here we find the importance for us to act on these rare moments to chase after what we really makes us happy what makes life worth living this ofcourse takes courage.”
One of the best trilogies ever made, plain and simple.
this trilogy is THE BEST movie experience of my entire life - it's changed me forever
The poem delusion angel on before sunrise became my favourite poem
just watched 3 of your videos back to back to back. you explore themes in movies that i love a lot and moved me deeply. you even made me think about some things that i hadn't previously, despite watching each of these films repeatedly. you've earned another sub. keep up the good work.
The best ever movie I have watches so far. its been years, I ve seen these three movies, but still, I do realise the feel it gave me.
I just watched this entire trilogy just to watch your video. Well done. This was a very deep movie. Very hard to watch at times.
I fell in love with a foreign exchange student from spain. My connection with her is so unique and she leaves in 5 weeks and we talk little about it because it upsets both of us. Our bond is sooo sooo different and real and she has shown me that. Will I ever see her again? Im 17 in Highschool
I don't know, but if it so happens... It would be a beautiful story
Your videos are outstanding and this one is no exception. Thank you for highlighting why this trilogy is like no other movie love story. It feels like the real thing!
You deserve more followers,bro..!
Great essay.
Wow beautifully done. Great analysis!
Great video! Before Sunrise is my favorite film.
You, sir, have one of the best channels on youtube. All of your videos are so well-crafted and have so much meaning. Love your work.
As much as I love this trilogy, and how much they make me feel hopeful, they also make me feel sad and feel like I was born in the wrong generation. I'm an old soul, and most of the people you can possibly be with this days are either into social media or think so highly of themselves. It is hard. If I talk to someone on a train ride right now, I'll probably be seen as a creepy guy or worse, get viral for all the wrong reasons.
This is a wonderful trilogy and a great analysis. I think the key is this - the 'high' a couple gets in the early stages will fade and is largely beyond our control but it can be replaced by something deeper as time goes on: true intimacy, which is very much within our control. This demands communicating in constructive ways that don't involve finger pointing or belittling the other person's perspective but listening in ways that really allow the other to feel heard. IMO, the key to long term relationships is how to handle conflict. Conflict can cause tremendous damage or draw a couple into intimacy. The choice is ours. It just takes learning some basic skills and breaking unhealthy habits. I actually think the fight scene, while having many positive aspects, also shows some pretty disfunctional tendencies - but it is reality for many couples.
fantastic editing...great work, man!
Can you like stop making me cry? You are wonderful at crafting these. Just wonderful.
so good. great video!
You have one of the finest youtube channels I've ever come across. Thanks.
Wonderful. I saw the whole trilogy for the first time when it was released on blu-ray in 2017, and it affected me more than any other media I saw that year. The series had a bit of mythical build-up in my mind as well and still surpassed it. I remember reading a review for Before Sunset in my local paper, and marveling at the concept of this real-time sequel to a romance film I had never heard of. But I never got around to seeing it, and soon a whole new cycle of time had passed. I'm glad I corrected this oversight, even it it took far too many years. I can't say enough - or watch other people do the same - about this trilogy.
The Before trilogy is perfect. It's too bad younger people aren't experiencing it because the lessons it portrays are so important. Great video!
Great movie with ultimate truths. Young love,mature love.
I saw the trilogy in order when before midnight released. So I didn't grow with it because I was too young. But it still became my one of my favorite films of all time. Any of the 3 movies could be your favorite of the series and a case could be made for it. My favorite is Before Midnight simply because it has one of my 10 favorite 3rd acts in film
Can't wait for part 4 "Before Divorce."
This exposition was wonderful. Thank you.
I am fortunate to have found my way to this channel. You continue to impress with your work. A true lover of films. Again, bravo!
In one word: MASTERPIECE
Wow, fabulous video. Thank you for spreading such beautiful films to the masses.
I might have to watch this again.
My favorite trilogy ever. Style, frame, meaning, idea, everything - so enjoyable. Thanks to all who co-created it 🙏
You are doing a fantastic job! I can't even describe how nice it is! Thank you!
Great analogy thank you I’ve watched these movies 1 million times but I have to watch the last one again
I love this review of one of my all time fave film by Linklater. Hawke and Delphy created a chemistry which is incomparable. Thank you for making this awesome insight.
incredible video, as are all the videos ive seen on your page.
This film seems amazing 😯 super realistic, nothing out of this world but on the point 💛
Amazing essay. Thank you.
My favorite romance movie! Thank you
Conflict can lead to deeper intimacy...
Bravo!
Awesome analysis. Thanks.
Thank you for this. Beautiful video for a beautiful series.
My favorite trilogy and greatest romance films of all time
You did an amazing job ❤️
Well done !! I realy love the way you tell us about this beautifulll trilogy !!
Fantastic work!!! Thank you!!!!! Keep them coming👌🏼
This was great. Made me want to rewatch all 3. I watched the first two 10 years ago and the last one when it came out. I wonder how it would feel to watch all 3 in a short amount of time.
This trilogy is awesome. This movie will forever be a masterpiece! The realistic approach of the phases of a relationship is nailed perfectly here! Watching the evolution of their love was bittersweet and it hit home. Forever will treasure this.
Great video again!
I really like Linklater and his movies too.
My personal favourite is „Boyhood“.
I am looking forward very expectantly for your next Video-Essay.
Thank you so much for your work here, it is really compelling.
(Only as an idea: How about a video about the Nouvelle Vague or just one of the films of it? I guess you would do a good job at analysing it! :D)
I love this trilogy and this video taught me so much more about it. Thank you :)
great video sir!
Very, very well done once again. I have watched all your videos. You should consider doing an analysis of Inside Out.
i checked these movies out recently and couldn't stop crying for some reason. It is so real that its too sad. Its a beautiful movie. We are all as confused as the characters.
Well done sir
Interesting analysis, I actually just watched all three movies back to back. I kind of have a different take on it, but with some overlap on your commentary. I actually think that both Celine and Jesse are totally incompatible but fell in love with the idea of being in love with each other. I think the moment with the fortune teller in the first one was kind of a clue. Jessie makes fun of and dismisses what she said and how she behaved, Celine didn't really like that and also commented when Jessie asks her what she doesn't like about him and she brings up that point. I think there was of course infatuation and lust in the first movie and that feeling of connecting with someone new, but you dont fall in love in a day, because love either comes or doesn't come once you have spent more time with someone and had an opportunity to see how compatible both people actually are.
I think both had an idealistic notion of what love is, but love is actually something more practical. I don't really go along with couples destined to grow apart no matter what, just depends what foundation your relationship is actually built on.
All throughout the movies it became clear, they don't see the world the same way, there was so much clashing all the time but I think they got together cos they wanted to fill in the time they didnt actually spend together, with the memory of that first encounter being the foundation of the relationship, and trying to live out the what could have been, years later by filling in the time because they felt they needed to but I didn't get the impression there was actually enough there between them for the relationship to last.
Now there was definitely some chemistry and sexual tension and you you could feel that, but again all of that rests on the foundation of the memory of that first encounter and not from having got to know each other better over time because the opposite was actually happening, as they got to know each other and realising they just aren't compatible and are two very different people. That doesnt bode well for longevity and the potential for clashing would just be too high.
Hopefully I'm making some sense, and I absolutely loved the movies, all of them but I didn't see it as a love story but more a story of two people falling in love with the memory of feeling something at one point in time, and spending 20+ years trying to re-live or recreate that moment and basically not succeeding.
Thanks for reading my analysis and I just subbed your channel.
I prefer you take. Thanks.
I just re-read your take and while I do think the incompatibility was there and that maybe they did fall in love with the idea of loving each other, I struggle to see the purer form of love you compare the 'ideation love' to.
Every love and relationship has compatibility issues, IMO (though I'm no expert in this domain) - it's how those incompatibilities are resolved and worked out. And, I feel that the couple were able to resolve (or at least mitigate) their issues.
They met when they were in their early 20s. Spent time with others and within different relationships in their 20s and rekindled some form of something in their early 30s with each other. Their relationship had meaning to them and they valued one another enough get together and stay together for a decade (10+ years). They also had children together. They were married. Their lives were intermingled. There was friction, but they didn't and didn't want to separate as they saw a future together (i.e., there was alignment in the way they saw the world to some extent). My point being, I believe they did love each other. Though I did get the impression that they both became a bit jaded from prior relationships and that maybe that they rushed building a life together.
The more I think about it, the more I agree with the premise of the video that it's just the trials & tribulations of long-term relationships over the course of one's life: 20s = romanticism & screwing around, 30s = settling down and racing against the 'age clock', 40s = friction & doubling down (haha!), 50s+ = acceptance. I think the movie highlights how significant an endeavour a relationship is and that it is something to take very seriously (more so than buying a house, etc.) because it takes so much effort and time. On another parallel point, I recognised how the delivery or method of communication by them both changed - they seemed to become more defensive, more ingrained in representing their wants & needs as time passed (maybe more repressed & resentful from sacrificing their individual/personal time & effort on/in the relationship) - they could definitely benefit from intermediation on communicating (lol).
Also, while I kinda agree that people don't necessarily change, their motivations, intentions, wants/needs/desires and circumstances do - or in this couple's case, the aforementioned attributes don't really change, life just gets stressful and friction arises.
I feel that people overcomplicate relationships (we all do!). It generally is about whether you can communicate peacefully and resolve frictions, whether you're attracted to one another, whether you like spending time with each other, and whether your future goals & needs/wants align.
Then do your own video
@@holdencawffle626 Why? Am I not allowed to put across how I interpreted the three films?
@@bq4416 Some good points, did make me think again about my interpretation. But I think when you mentioned jaded after having other relationships, I think this plus the time that elapsed between them, really changed them into different people so to speak. I think they so desperately wanted to rekindle what they had and wanted to try and pick up where they left off but again I'm going to stick with my original pov.
They just weren't in love with the current versions of themselves when they met up again, rather trying to travel back to the past. It would would have felt painful, because there is a big chunk of time missing where they didn't get to actually pick up again which was 6 months or so after they initially met but then they meet again much later, 10 years is a long time, a lot can happen in that time. Also again, they loved the idea of being in love but the reality was quite different.
I just never really saw two people truly in love but two very idealistic but cynical people so enthralled by their first encounter, thinking they have more than they actually did, and as their lives moved along when back together, they come to the realization that they just aren't that compatible or genuinely in love, even if they half-heartedly accept each other, it doesn't still appear that they are happy being together and I think that friction had been there for a while, but also the signs were there in the first movie, they ignored them or glossed over them but they had some big differences on their world view or how they view others etc.
So yeah I just never saw them as two people really in love but wanted to be and failed somewhat when it really came down to being in a relationship with each other. Maybe you could be right that as we age, this breakdown can tend to happen, but my problem still is that I don't think there was enough actual love there as a solid foundation to build a successful relationship on.