介绍:
To watch director Linklater's "Before …" series is like watching an extended edition of "One Day": both attempt to depict a love that stands the test of time. The "Before …" series, however, are much more intellectual and spontaneous.
Following "Before Sunrise" in 1995 and "Before Sunset" in 2004, the newest addition to the series is "Before Midnight", released after the same interval of nine years. 18 years ago, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy each played an American man and a French woman in their early twenties who met on a train and decided to disembark in Vienna. They spent a night together walking around the city and sharing random thoughts on life and love. Since they were always aware that their time together was limited and they might never see each other again, they revealed more about themselves and found a strong spiritual connection. When the night finally ended after the sunrise, they went their separate ways. Nine years later in "Before Sunset", the two, now in their early thirties, meet each other again in Paris and spent another day together to share their intimate thoughts. After yet another nine days, we see the couple living together with twin daughters. They still talk to each other incessantly, but their conversation revolves around more earthly topics. Only when they are finally alone do they open up and go into the depths of their feelings.
Lone Scherfig's "One Day" touches upon the friendship between a man and a woman and is keen on presenting the impact of time on that relationship; he does this by arranging the activities in each encounter. In comparison, Linklater's approach is minimalist, the characters simply walked around and talked about whatever occurred to them: love, music and personal experiences. There is no deliberate emphasis on time, but from the dialogue we can sense its looming presence which has changed the characters' looks and shaped the topics of their conversation.
The now cohabiting couple in "Before Midnight" hardly have time for communication on an intellectual level. On a regular day they talk about, or fight over, the kids, their jobs, and the family chores. The necessities of family life have deprived them the luxury of any romantic aspiration. But it is exactly that shared aspiration which they had that holds them together against the tyranny of time.
The "Before …" series is essentially all about talking and sharing, but when the talking and sharing reach such depths, it can be an entertaining story. On a scale of one to ten, I give "Before Midnight" a 9.
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