Director: Richard Linklater
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 3.5
Insightful third film in Linklater's ongoing Before ... series takes place close to twenty years (!) after Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) first met in Before Sunrise, and now they're together, share twin daughters and are staying in Greece: in this installment, issues with Jesse's son (from a previous marriage) are causing problems between them. It's so nice to revisit the world of these two smart, intriguing individuals and the way they talk, pontificate and fight, and the struggles almost all real relationships face - unaddressed problems becoming bigger and bigger and then snowballing into accusations of betrayal - take precedence: Linklater is unafraid to let the camera linger on his stars for extended periods of time, and the chemistry between Delpy and Hawke is so strong it sometimes feels like a documentary (in the best possible sense) or even, and I apologize for reiterating this, the best work from Eric Rohmer. The final scenes at the hotel, starting off with intimacy and ending up in a nasty fight (before coming to a romantic conclusion) are emotionally powerful in a way movies so very rarely approach. Ultimately, you want it to work out for them. No, it will work out for them.
