Many films produced by large Hollywood studios explore the possibilities of the imagination. Time is a commodity that is treated carefully and often manipulated in order to challenge our perception of reality. Modern Hollywood blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame, Dune, and Inception expect audiences to suspend disbelief and enter a world different than our own. This often provides limitless opportunities to filmmakers to explore the depths of their imagination, specifically in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. But the conventional love story is a genre that tends to take fewer liberties in regards to time. Often, films that depict romance are considered more realistic than ones that explore the possibilities and impossibilities of science fiction; however, Hollywood romance films are also often criticized for being an unrealistic version of love. To categorize the films of director Richard Linklater as romance films — in the traditional Hollywood sense — would be to simplify them and may well be a slight to Linklater. Linklater’s trilogy of Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013), while a love story at its core, is a highly experimental project that challenges conventional filmmaking practices. The films are an example of cinema-in-real-time, being produced nine years apart and taking place on that same timeline, exemplifying an experimental form of realism that challenges the traditional conception of cinematic realism. Linklater’s treatment of time, both on screen and during production, along with his collaboration with actors during script development, suggests that Linklater’s unique use of realism can only exist within the realm of independent cinema.
An interview with Richard Linklater conducted by The Velvet Light Trap provides insight into how he approaches filmmaking. Linklater talks about the making of Before Sunrise multiple times throughout the interview, stating that he worked from a “really personal place” and that he was “almost reimagining” his own life during production of the film. He also speaks about how people liked the idea of a sequel to the film because it did not seem like a cash-grab: while it made decent money at the box-office, it wasn’t the kind of huge hit that demanded a Hollywood sequel. Linklater states that the reason he made a second installment was an “artistic personal reason” for him, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke as the three had stayed close over the years, and the characters they had created stayed alive in the nine years between films.
An article from The New York Times published after the release of 2013’s Before Midnight begins with a brief overview about the trilogy and describes how each installment is a “window into a stage of life.” The author, Dennis Lim, notes that each film displays the “possibilities and disappointments of one’s 20s, 30s, and 40s.” When asked by Lim about how autobiographical the characters are, Delpy and Hawke both agree that, in many ways, the characters are based on their own lives.
Indies are often slower paced with looser plots than their blockbuster counterparts. Michael Z. Newman points out in his book Indie: an American Film Culture that indie films usually have a plot that contains a “beginning and an end, but the world of the narrative seems merely to go on independent of its narrative representation.” He also asserts that “character-focused narratives need boldly individualized protagonists to appeal to their audience.” These two factors contribute to the emphasis of character development as opposed to plot development seen in Hollywood productions. This focus on characters rather than plot also creates a sense of realism that Newman deems indie-realism.
Luke Penny’s article titled The Space in Between begins with a quote from Before Sunrise: “I believe if there’s any kind of God it wouldn’t be in any of us. Not you or me, but just this little space in-between,” which provides a focus for the article as a whole. Penny argues that this quote can be used to describe Before Sunset and even the trilogy as a whole. According to Penny, all three films ignore the typical “cinematic love story” and instead puts its focus on the “tension … silence … hesitance … and the sheer ridiculousness of falling in love.” By displaying the “beginning, rebirth and strain of lost love,” the trilogy exemplifies the realities of love over almost twenty years – further contributing to the cinematic realism of the films.
Realism has a long history as a part of the fabric of artistic media. Newman asserts that, “although one might think of realism as an absence of style — as the capture and representation of reality in artistic media — most serious critics and historians of the arts take the opposite position and think of realism as a style, or rather as a series of historical styles in various media.” Newman recognizes that the presence of realism in the arts is nothing new and even qualifies Linklater as a “key indie auteur.” Linklater’s connection to independent film and qualification as an indie director according to Newman positions him well to operate in a space — and push the limits of realism — often avoided by many directors. The reason Hollywood studios tend to stray away from Linklater’s more experimental form of realism has to do with the common formula Hollywood uses which includes a plot driven story and continuity editing aimed at making sure the audience is not lost throughout their viewing experience. The idea of Classical Realism in Hollywood tends to make use of techniques such as continuity editing, linear time and a linear narrative. These practices contribute to the audience’s connection to the world of the film. This form of realism is not entirely different from that of independent film practices of realism, however, oftentimes Hollywood films add on to the simplicities of continuity editing and linear narrative style with technological spectacle and involved plot in order to invest the audience further into the film.
Independent films use continuity editing and linear narrative in a different sense. The focus in indies often lies with strong characters and less on technological spectacle or plot driven goals. Linklater’s trilogy falls nicely into this category. He utilizes continuity editing, but rather than frequently cutting and laying out a blueprint for the viewer to easily piece together, Linklater often uses incredibly long takes in ordinary locations in order to showcase the characters and their development rather than having a strong plot that drives the film. The long takes that Linklater puts in his films contribute to the fly-on-the-wall style of realism in his trilogy. While viewing the films, it becomes easy to feel as though you are in the room with Jesse (Hawke) and Céline (Delpy), just watching them interact. With very little camera movement or cuts from one point of view to another, we become immersed in the conversation that the two characters are having and rather than focusing on what might happen next in the plot we become invested in the relationship between Jesse and Céline. Most of the scenes and shots in all three of the Before films are much longer than what is usually seen from Hollywood, constituting a hyper-realism in Linklater’s films that is inherently more experimental and unconventional.
Some moviegoers consider realism when gauging their enjoyment of a film. A study published in the journal Projections found that components to film viewership that contribute to enjoyment include: the interactions between narrative realism and external realism with suspension of disbelief, along with all three of those elements contributing to emotional and cognitive involvement. If each of these ingredients interact with each other while watching a film, viewers may find enjoyment from the experience. The study found that, “suspension of disbelief has been frequently cited to explain why audiences care about people, things, and events that are clearly not real.” This can loosely be applied to Linklater’s work. I know that Jesse and Céline are invented characters, however, I would attest that suspension of disbelief is not an important factor in finding enjoyment while watching the Before films. To argue that in order to enjoy Linklater’s films we must suspend disbelief just because we know that the characters are not real would be an oversimplification of the work put into the project over 18 years. Linklater’s work should be classified as hyper-realism instead of simply just realism or indie realism as Newman would put it. While realism has been a part of many art forms since the early nineteenth century, the form of realism that Linklater uses is unlike the traditional conceptions, and therefore should be deemed hyper-realism. This hyper-realism removes the need to suspend disbelief because it gives the viewer a sense that Jesse and Céline could be, and in a sense are, real people. My assertion that Jesse and Céline are, in a sense, real people is rooted in the intense investment from Delpy, Hawke, and Linklater.
Possibly the most important component to Linklater’s style of realism is his treatment of time, both on and off screen. In his article about time in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), Professor Kevin Howley attests, “that both physical time and cinematic time operate not only as a subtext, but assume a crucial, even decisive thematic role.” This proclamation about time, while pertaining to a different film, can be adequately applied to the Before trilogy and Linklater’s treatment of time. This thought about physical and cinematic time contributing to not only the subtext of the film but also the theme as well, has struck a nerve with me and broadened my understanding of Linklater’s work on-screen and in production. The first film debuted in 1995 and takes place over the course of less than 24-hours. The second, released nine years later, takes place over an even shorter amount of time. For the third, another nine years passed and again, the film takes place in less than a full day. The physical time that passes in the real world from 1995 to 2004 then from 2004 to 2013 allows Hawke and Delpy to age naturally and portrays the relationships created in the most realistic way possible while staying within the bounds of a fictional story. Each installment of the trilogy depicts a representation of not only the real world time that has passed since the previous film but also the time that has passed within the world of the film. These two worlds — that of the film and that of the real — are intentionally connected to provide a more realistic depiction of the story.
Penny writes that the trilogy reproduces the, “beginning, rebirth and strain of lost love and the reality of a relationship.” Before Sunrise depicts the romantic night together of two young travelers. They meet, by chance, on a train — if it had not been for a couple fighting, Jesse may never have moved to the seat next to Céline and struck up a conversation. This small detail displays the chance and spontaneity involved in finding love. Impulsively, Jesse asks Céline to explore Vienna with him. Accepting his offer, they wander the city and fall in love. The next morning, after spending the night together in the park, they agree to meet each other exactly six months later at the same train station, however they do not exchange phone numbers or addresses in hopes to keep their relationship from fizzling out. In Before Sunset, Jesse has written a book seemingly about the night that he spent with Céline nine years prior. The final stop on Jesse’s book tour happens to be in Paris and Céline attends the discussion. It is revealed that this is the first time the two have seen each other since the final events of the previous film. Céline did not make it to the train station as they had promised. At first, Jesse tells her that he did not show up either, but he soon admits he traveled all the way back to Vienna from the United States. Jesse is not upset, he is just glad that Céline came to the book tour. The two walk around Paris for a short time before Jesse’s flight back home and we learn that Jesse is married with a son while Céline has a boyfriend. Neither of them are happy in their current relationships. The two go to Céline’s apartment and she plays Jesse a song she wrote that has a similar theme and inspiration as Jesse’s book; their love affair nine years earlier. The film concludes by fading out as the two are talking and laughing in Céline’s apartment.
In Before Midnight, Céline and Jesse are not meeting by chance. Instead, it is revealed that Jesse never caught his flight home. The two are now married with twin daughters and they are on vacation in Greece. Jesse’s son spent the summer with them in Greece and he departs for the United States at the beginning of the film. Now that Jesse and Céline are far past the phase of getting to know each other and are deep into a committed relationship, their marriage is on full display, warts and all. This film includes a good deal more interactions with other people besides just Céline and Jesse because, as Hawke says in an interview with The New York Times, “Once people have been together for years, what do they have left to say to each other? That led to the giant dinner scene, which gave us an excuse to have them talking to other people.” The audience is familiar with these characters from the previous two films, so by incorporating new characters and tensions between Céline and Jesse, the film becomes more than a repetition of the first two.
Contributing to the realism Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy create with their work, Penny writes that “these films don’t just depict a maturing relationship … they occupy a space more often than not ignored in your typical romantic comedy or cinematic love story: the tension, the silence, the hesitance and the sheer ridiculousness of falling in love.” On full display in Before Midnight is the tension, silence, and hesitance of love. The deep connection between Hawke and Delpy to each of their respective characters is explained by Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy when asked, “What’s it like to pick up with these characters after a long time away?” Linklater responds, “I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like Jesse and Celine are alive in some parallel universe at all times.” Hawke agrees, “I feel that way, too” and Delpy jokingly adds, “You guys are so New Age.” The three of them recognize that Céline and Jesse are not typical movie characters invented by writers, they are interwoven within Delpy and Hawke.
Echoing the line that kicks off Before Sunset, “Do you consider the book to be autobiographical?” to which Jesse replies, “I mean, isn’t everything autobiographical?” Hawke and Delpy are asked the same question. Hawke answers, “Julie and I are using pieces of ourselves to blur the line between the character and the performer, to render it pointless. Julie has helped create Jesse. And I’m really proud of Céline — she’s an awesome female figure in movies,” which Delpy contradicts by saying, “I don’t feel Céline is exactly me at all — in many ways she’s very different — but I try to have a little bit of truth.” While Jesse’s character might be based more strongly on the real Ethan Hawke than Céline is on the real Julie Delpy, the collaboration between both actors and Linklater exemplifies the aspects of realism that contribute to the film’s authenticity. Linklater says in an interview between the second and third film that, “It was all about just realizing those characters were still alive in us and we had something to say. That they were still trying to come to life.” Instead of being a true imitation of real life people and a real life love story, the characters and their relationship are a compilation of experiences had by Delpy, Hawke and Linklater, especially the second two which were co-written by all three of them.
Linklater as a director, and the second two films of the trilogy in particular, exemplify a unique collaborative writing process. When asked about this collaborative process Linklater says, “A lot of the time it’s two of us pushing the other. Before anything ends up in the movie it has fully circulated through our systems, all three of us. Wherever it started — whether it was an observation or something personal or something that happened to a friend — it gets vetted.” This writing process is unique to independent cinema. Often in Hollywood, actors have little say in the writing process or the creation of characters (unless they’re also writers). Independent filmmaking is a more collaborative space where directors are open to ideas that the actors may have. This fosters an environment for a trilogy such as this one to thrive. Delpy and Hawke received writing credits for the second two films and the two along with Linklater were given Academy Award nominations for each script. The collaboration assists in making the film glow with realism. While the characters of Jesse and Céline are invented within the fictional world of the film, many of their attributes and experiences are drawn from the real life experiences of Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke. This does not necessarily make the film, “based on a true story,” but it does give it authenticity and helps it register with viewers who have had a similar experience when it comes to finding love and maintaining a relationship.
Time, as I have stated throughout this piece, is one of the most important components of these films. The treatment of time throughout the trilogy mirrors how we often treat the precious resource in the real world. We complain that there is not enough of it, yet we so often waste it. In Before Sunrise, the film takes place over just a few hours. Céline and Jesse recognize the limited amount of time that they have together and take advantage of the night, getting to know each other, laughing, and making love. Before Sunset takes place over an even shorter amount of time. The two, more mature now, realize the time they have, in a sense, wasted by being apart from each other for the past nine years and cherish this time even more than the first. In discussion about Before Midnight, Hawke says, “there’s also something about this being a movie about time. You look out the window in Greece and it’s like looking at a clock — you see all the history of mankind — and so it’s a very interesting place to put Jesse and Celine.” I agree with Hawke in this respect, Greece — being the historical location of preserved human history that it is — adds an element to the film that speaks to the 18-year journey of the trilogy itself. The location of the third film, along with the condensed on-screen timeline of all three, helps to create realism because, unlike many other films, we are able to travel with Céline and Jessie through each of the three days almost in real time.
One of the biggest factors in creating realism, to me, comes from the spacing of production for each film. For viewers who had the opportunity to see each of the films in theaters as they were released, this realism is intensified even further. Audiences who saw Before Sunrise in 1995 then Before Sunset in 2004 aged and matured nine years along with Céline and Jesse. In order to find out what happened in the world of the film, moviegoers waited the same amount of time in the real world that Céline and Jesse aged in the film’s world. In addition, Delpy and Hawke also aged and matured for the same amount of real time, giving the characters a truly authentic look and feel without any special effects tricks, or makeup. The same is true for the time-lapse between Before Sunset and Before Midnight, and when asked about a possible fourth installment to the series, Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke had interesting responses. Linklater says, “when we showed this film at Sundance people were calling it the final one in the trilogy. We all looked at one another and were like, “Wait, is this the final one?” Hawke jokingly adds, “The logical next title would be ‘After Midnight.’ But that’s already a film. And then we could do ‘After Sunset’ and ‘After Sunrise’ and then we’d be dead.” But in a more serious vein, Hawke attests that, “the truth is, we do use our lives for these films in some way. Whatever the next one is, it hasn’t been revealed to us yet.” Delpy adds that, “they’ve had it with us.” The three of them have put almost two decades of work into these films, bringing their own lives into production. While it might be interesting to see what Céline and Jesse are up to in 2022, the fact that Hawke points out how if there is something there for a fourth film, it has not come to them yet, suggests that the first three really are an imitation of their lives.
Realism has been present in all art forms for some time. Linklater’s work, however, constitutes a different form of realism I deem “hyper-real.” This is a form that I say can only be achieved through filmmaking, with intense patience and attention to time. The Before films are not Linklater’s only example of this form of realism. Boyhood (2014) was filmed over twelve years and follows Mason (Ellar Coltrane) as he grows up from the age of six to 18. The film, a coming of age story rather than a love story, exhibits the same form of realism that Linklater incorporates in the Before trilogy. A New York Times review of the film boasts, “the realism is jolting, and so brilliantly realized and understated that it would be easy to overlook. In Boyhood, Mr. Linklater’s inspired idea of showing the very thing that most movies either ignore or awkwardly elide — the passage of time … ” Just as the Before films highlight the passage of time in the context of a romantic relationship, Boyhood highlights this in the context of growing up.
While Linklater employs the techniques of hyper-realism and the exploration of time in Boyhood, the Before trilogy goes beyond even that in a way that may be unprecedented in film. The fact that the filmmaker and actors take the audience on a journey that actually takes 18 years (and possibly still counting) is unique. The experience of time passing is so real that it involves the viewer in ways no other films really can. This unique filmmaking style takes patience and attention to detail, qualities exemplified by Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke in order to create the examples of hyper-realism that are these films. The combination of filming in real time, incorporating real life experiences into character development, and slowly pacing the films with incredibly long takes and almost only dialogue makes these films the epitome of realism.
