Before Midnight
| Before Midnight | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Linklater |
| Screenplay by | Richard Linklater Ethan Hawke Julie Delpy |
| Produced by | Richard Linklater Christos V. Konstantakopoulos Sara Woodhatch |
| Starring | Ethan Hawke Julie Delpy |
| Cinematography | Christos Voudouris |
| Edited by | Sandra Adair |
| Music by | Graham Reynolds |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 109 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Greek French |
| Budget | $3 million[2] |
| Box office | $20,687,476[3] |
Before Midnight is a 2013 American romantic drama film and the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). Like its predecessors, the film was directed by Richard Linklater and stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. As with the previous film, Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy shared screenplay credit. Following a limited opening in May, the film was released wide on June 14, 2013.
Before Midnight received widespread acclaim from critics and grossed over $20 million worldwide.
Plot
Nine years after the conclusion of Before Sunset, Jesse (Hawke) and Céline (Delpy) are a couple and parents to twin girls conceived when they got together for the second time. Jesse is also struggling to maintain his relationship with his teenage son, Hank, who lives in Chicago with Jesse's ex-wife and who, after spending the summer with Jesse and Céline on the Greek Peloponnese peninsula, is being dropped off at the airport to fly home. Jesse has continued to find success as a novelist, while Céline is at a career crossroads, considering a job with the French government.
After dropping off Hank at the airport, the couple discuss their worries about Hank having a healthy childhood and Céline deciding what to do with her career, before returning to the house of their Greek friend, Patrick. Over dinner they discuss ideas about love and life, and the other people staying with them buy Jesse and Céline a hotel room for that night so they can have some time alone. While walking to the hotel, the couple reminisce about how they met and how their lives have changed since then. When they arrive at the hotel, however, the two have a vicious argument, as both of them pour out their fears about a present and future together.
Céline eventually storms out of the hotel room, telling Jesse she doesn't think she loves him anymore before sitting in the hotel's outdoor restaurant alone. Jesse joins her and playfully tries to explain to her how things can be different from tonight. Céline initially finds his attempts childish, saying that their fantasies will never match the imperfect reality their relationship constantly goes through. Jesse then proclaims his love to her, saying that he loves her unconditionally and is not sure what else she could want from a relationship. Céline suddenly resumes Jesse's joke and the two seem to reconcile.
Cast
- Ethan Hawke as Jesse
- Julie Delpy as Céline
- Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Hank
- Jennifer Prior as Ella
- Charlotte Prior as Nina
- Xenia Kalogeropoulou as Natalia
- Walter Lassally as Patrick
- Ariane Labed as Anna
- Yiannis Papadopoulos as Achilleas
- Athina Rachel Tsangari as Ariadni
- Panos Koronis as Stefanos
Production
Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy all had suggested the possibility of a sequel to Before Sunset. In a video interview in November 2011, Hawke said that he, Delpy and Linklater "have been talking a lot in the last six months. All three of us have been having similar feelings, that we're kind of ready to revisit those characters. There's nine years between the first two movies If we made the film next summer, it would be nine years again, so we started thinking that would be a good thing to do. So we're going to try and write it this year."[4][5]
In June 2012, Hawke confirmed that the sequel to Before Sunset would be filmed in summer 2012.[6] Soon after, Delpy denied filming would take place in 2012, stating that they were still only writing the script and that filming would not take place until "sometime in the next year, year and a half."[7] However, in August 2012, numerous reports emerged from Messenia, Greece, that the film was in fact being shot there.[8] When asked about the reports, this time Hawke stated that he, Delpy and Linklater were in Greece only to write the film, telling MTV News that "we're here writing a third installment to Before Sunrise. If it works out, we'll film it, and if it doesn't, we won't. It's not really worth talking about. I'm just here developing."[9] However, Hawke and Delpy's denial was proven to be a ruse when the completion of filming of the new movie, titled Before Midnight, was announced on September 5, 2012.[10]
Linklater later revealed that after 10 weeks of writing and rehearsing, the film was made in 15 days for less than $3 million,[2] and he aimed to take it to a film festival in early 2013.[11]
Release
Before Midnight premiered on January 20, 2013, at a 9:45 p.m. showing at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Park City, Utah at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.[12] It then had its international premiere out of competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.[13]
The film opened to general audiences on May 24, 2013, at five theaters in New York, Los Angeles and Austin.[14] It was released wide in 897 theaters on June 14, 2013.[15]
Box office
The film grossed $8,110,621 domestically and $12,626,409 overseas, for a worldwide gross of $20,737,030.[3]
Critical reception
Like its two predecessors, Before Midnight received widespread critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 98% based on reviews from 167 critics, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The site's consensus is: "Building on the first two installments in Richard Linklater's well-crafted Before trilogy, Before Midnight offers intelligent, powerfully acted perspectives on love, marriage, and long-term commitment."[16] Metacritic gives the film a score of 94 based on reviews from 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[17]
According to Total Film's Philip Kemp, "As with its two predecessors—and with the films of French New Wave director Éric Rohmer, presiding deity of this kind of cinema—Midnight's essentially a film about people talking. But when the talk's this good, this absorbing and revealing and witty and true, who's going to complain?" Kemp gave the film five out of five stars and called it a "more-than-worthy, expectations-exceeding chapter in one of modern cinema's finest love stories. As honest, convincing, funny, intimate and natural as its predecessors."[18]
Perry Seibert of AllMovie also praised the film, writing: "The screenwriting trio fill the movie with long, discursive conversations (there are only two scenes in the first 20 minutes) that feel utterly improvised when they are performed, but are far too deftly structured to be anything other than the work of consummate artists."[19]
Accolades
| Accolades | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | |
| 2013 Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards | Ten Best Films of the Year | Before Midnight | Won | |
| Best Screenplay | Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater | Won | ||
| 2013 Gotham Independent Film Awards | Best Film | Before Midnight | Nominated | |
| 17th Hollywood Film Awards | Screenwriter(s) of the Year | Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater | Won | |
| 29th Independent Spirit Awards | Best Screenplay | Pending | ||
| Best Female Lead | Julie Delpy | Pending | ||
| 18th Satellite Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater | Pending | |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater | Pending | |
| 39th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Screenplay | Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater | Won | |
References
- ^ "BEFORE MIDNIGHT (15)". British Board of Film Classification. May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
- ^ a b Borrelli, Christopher (May 24, 2013). "Richard Linklater finishes trilogy with 'Before Midnight'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ a b "Before Midnight". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
- ^ Baronnet, Brigitte (November 18, 2011 – interview filmed November 2, 2011). "Ethan Hawke, l'interview blind-test". AlloCiné. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Shoard, Catherine (November 23, 2011). "Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy wake up to possibility of Before Sunrise sequel". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
- ^ Smith, Nigel M. (June 13, 2012). "'The Woman in the Fifth' Star Ethan Hawke Gets Personal and Talks 'Before Sunset' Follow-Up". IndieWire. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
- ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (August 10, 2012). "Exclusive: Julie Delpy Says Despite Recent Reports, The 'Before Sunset' Sequel Won't Shoot This Summer". IndieWire. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (August 28, 2012). "Rumor: Is The 'Before Sunrise'/ 'Before Sunset' Follow-Up Currently Shooting In Greece?". IndieWire. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ Sullivan, Kevin P. (August 30, 2012). "Exclusive: Ethan Hawke Confirms 'Before Sunset' Sequel Developing In Greece". MTV. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ Fleming, Mike (September 5, 2012). "Toronto: Richard Linklater Completes 'Before Midnight' Just Before Fest Begins". Deadline. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ Zeitchik, Steven (October 3, 2012). "'Before Midnight' will look at Hawke and Delpy all grown up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ^ "Before Midnight - Festival Program". Sundance Institute. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- ^ "Berlinale 2013: Competition Now Complete". berlinale. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
- ^ "Before Midnight Dates". Before Midnight Official Website. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
- ^ "Before Midnight". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ "Before Midnight". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
- ^ "Before Midnight". Metacritic. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
- ^ Kemp, Philip (June 17, 2013). "A great conversation starter..." Total Film. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
- ^ Seibert, Perry. "Before Midnight (2013)". allmovie.com. Retrieved June 28, 2013.