Tuesday, July 30, 2013

1876 - Before Midnight


In a way, I've aged with Jesse and Celine, though they are a few years ahead of me, their lives and where they're at aren't all that far off.  When we first met they were idealistic and romantic as was I.  Then at our second outing was just as their lives were about to shift and become more serious - it was right around the time that I met my now wife - and now - they have been together all these years with two children, as am I, with a beautiful marriage that is not perfect - but with a journey to understanding if perfection is even real when it comes to relationships.
This feels like a much welcome addition to this franchise, and I think in terms of their arguments and conversations it hits home much harder, because their issues and views aren't far off from my own.  My wife and I shared evil laughs at each other through the course.  The one thing this film is missing that makes the others really work is a sense of urgency.  In both the previous films there's a time limit coming - there's a race to find meaning before they have to part - that absence is felt here.  We believe that they could go on squabbling for forever.  And if I'm honest I have to say that the ending felt a bit anti-climatic.  I know that the previous films left with question marks, and I'm fine with that - but the resolution here just felt like it came out of nowhere and wasn't completely earned… And I have to say that the cynic in me questions if this film could stand on it's own at all, or if it's completely dependant on being part of a series - not that that's a bad thing.

That said, I'm in if they come back sometime near the end of the next decade.  Delpy and Hawke have created a beautiful couple that lasts, and I do hope we continue to see their adventures together.

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