Why I Am Such A Big Fan of the “Before” Series (Sunset/Sunrise/Midnight)

One day in the early 2000s, not long after I had gotten back home from college, I was bored and flipping through channels on my mama’s TV when suddenly I found myself watching this movie with a scene on a train where an American guy and a French girl started talking to each other.

The two of them seemed interested in one another, and their conversations seem rich, deep and very interesting. Next thing you know, they were getting off the train with each other even though this was technically not the French girl’s stop.

As they walked together through the city of Vienna, their conversations remained interesting, and got me thinking about a lot of things. I mean, this pair was talking about religion, spirituality, sexuality, life, society, culture and all kinds of stuff.

And yes, they seemed to have a lot of chemistry. But that was not my concern at the time. I was not into romantic movies. I was an action-adventure, comedy and horror movie guy.

What drew me in like a magnet, what kept me watching instead of continuing to flip through channels is the more time this pair spent together the more deep and interesting conversations they had. They kept my neurons working, making me want to philosophize on the stuff they were talking about.

By the time the movie got to the point where the romance played the more dominant role in their new-found relationship, I had already started to care about this American guy and French girl as individuals because by now I knew they were rich and interesting people. Even though romance movies were not my cup of tea.

The movie I just talked about was none other than Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise”. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy did a marvelous performance in that movie as the young American guy and French girl. I mean, seriously, somebody must have been doing something right in that movie because I went from finding that movie by accident sometime in the early 2000s while flipping through channels on my mama’s TV, to getting that movie on DVD soon afterward, to joining the cult followers who anxiously anticipated the sequels years later!

Before Sunrise was a movie the likes of which I had never seen, and made me realize that I really could like a romantic movie. But Richard, Ethan and Julie are who made the movie truly magical, as I would discover years later.

Before long I read rumors on the Internet that a sequel called “Before Sunset” was coming out soon. In either 2003 or 2004, I discovered those rumors were true, and like I imagine was true for just about all big Before Sunrise fans, I was anxious to find out whether American guy Jesse and French girl Céline met back up six months later like they planned.

Before Sunset did not disappoint. Jesse and Céline had excellent dialogue, topics, romance, intrigue, banter and verbal exchange. And the movie had so much suspense, probably more than the other two. Before Sunset began with suspense (e.g., Did Jesse and Céline meet up six months later?), carried suspense throughout the movie (e.g., What are Jesse and Céline to each other now?) and ended with suspense (e.g., What is Jesse going to do? as the movie fades out).

And again, throughout the movie, Jesse and Céline kept my neurons working with their deep conversations. Of course, the difference in this movie is I actually started out caring about the romantic aspect. Perhaps I was growing up? Naw, maybe it’s because I liked the characters so much by now.

Anyway, I watched Before Sunrise and Before Sunset many times, over and over again, in the years leading up to the what is now the latest sequel, “Before Midnight”.

Before Midnight surprised me in more ways than one. Jesse and Céline were so different, yet so the same, at the same time! So far I’ve only seen Before Midnight three times, which is far less than I’ve seen its predecessors. Yet I believe Before Midnight might actually be my favorite of the three. But don’t quote me on that just yet because I’d like to get to know this latest sequel a little bit better before I attach a value judgment on it that I’m ready to stick with.

To tell the truth, I’m still to this day not sure if I’m really a fan of romance movies. I have tried several, but quickly grow nauseous of the lovey-dovey, hurry-to-the-airport-and-get-her-before-she-gets-away-forever aspect that permeates that genre. But I am a huge fan of Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight. Why? Because they are about more than romance to me. These movies are about humanity. Every sequel shows us Jesse and Céline at a different stage of life, with different priorities, at a different stage of their relationship, with a different outlook on life and the world around them. And they always talk about subjects I deeply care about!

Like I imagine is true for many other fans of the series, I will be watching these three that are already released while waiting and hoping that one day the dynamic trio will give us yet sequel!