Fall in love again in ‘Before Midnight’

MANILA, Philippines - Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are lucky to have found each other.  It was their fate, their destiny.  They knew from the moment they saw each other. The encounter in the train was just the beginning of a long and lasting love.  But life was not a bed of roses for them. Just like any couple, their love too will undergo the test of fire. Catch Before Midnight on July 3 in theaters nationwide and fall in love again. 

Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Before Sunset has generated rave reviews from movie fans to movie critics all over the world.  The clever juxtaposition of wit, drama, and romance has captivated the hearts of millions of Before lovers. Such that the third trilogy, Before Midnight  was tagged as the most-highly anticipate threequel of the year, and the most awaited Indie movie of the year by noted movie critics in the US.

Before Sunrise plays on the cliché of “love at first sight” and the sheer thrill of escaping to a new world and consequently, finding freedom and solace in the arms of a stranger. Jesse is a guy who pretends to be cynical about love, but turns out to be more romantic than he shows. Celine is the romantic who just wants to live a good life. They meet on a train and Jesse whisks Celine away to Vienna with him, on the premise that they only have that instance and will never see each other again. As day turns to night, they delve into each other’s lives through conversations about anything and everything under the sun, with the thought of their limited time together looming over their heads.

Nine years after, Jesse and Celine cross paths again. In Before Sunset, Jesse visits Paris for the last leg of his book tour; the book being about his encounter with Celine. As some reporters are interviewing him, he momentarily glances to his right and is surprised to see Celine in the very same bookstore. Once again, they use the remaining moments to talk and catch up on their lives. They talk in a cafe, a garden, a boat, and in Jesse’s car. In the course of their conversation it is revealed that they are quite dissatisfied with how their lives have turned out. They end up in Celine’s apartment as a song plays and viewers are left hanging as to whether Jesse gets on the plane or not.

From a dreamy whirlwind romance that started in Before Sunrise to a coming-of-age in Before Sunset, the series transcends to the realities of life in Before Midnight. The Before series covers young love, maturity, and now commitment. The youthful, energetic spark between Jesse and Celine has been replaced by a quiet settling down and a renewed sense of responsibility. Before Midnight shows viewers what happens when the fairytale ends and Jesse and Celine have to face the reality of settling down. Will the romance live on? Or will the monotony of everyday life dull their sparkle? Now that they’re together, what happens?

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