The correct order to watch the previous films with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy

When you think of a great film trilogy, you probably think of this Peter Jackson’s version of “The Lord of the Rings.” Or the original “Star Wars” movies – but if Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy doesn’t immediately come to mind, you should definitely take the time to watch these stunning, deeply emotional, and brilliantly shot films that focus on two lovers at different stages throughout their lives.

Based on Linklater’s true life experience (Specifically, the night he and a woman he had just met strolled through Philadelphia and talked until sunrise), the first “Before” movie, 1995, appropriately titled “Before Sunrise” The film begins on a European train and introduces us to Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). They both leave Budapest and, after striking up a conversation, impulsively get off the train in Vienna, wander the gorgeous Austrian capital and talk about life, love, art and everything else. So, how did a film this small become a trilogy, and what is the correct order (since none of the titles have numbers to help guide you)? The order, to educate you, is “Before Sunrise”, “Before Sunset”, and “Before Midnight”, but let me delve a little deeper into what each film entails… and why there’s a nine-year gap between each of the films. Linklater “before”.

After spending an entire night and early morning together in Vienna in “Before Sunrise,” Jesse and Celine are forced to part ways as Celine has to return to Paris to see her grandmother (and go back to school), but the two make a pact. They decide to meet each other at the same train station in Vienna in six months. Unfortunately, as we learned in “Before Sunset,” that doesn’t happen; In the 2004 sequel, we meet Jesse and Celine again in Paris, where the former is reading his latest book at the city’s famous Shakespeare & Company bookstore, and Celine, who lives in Paris, attends the reading (much to Jesse’s surprise). ). (Also, the book in question, “This Time,” is about their night in Vienna.) As the two former lovers explore a different European capital, the audience learns that Celine stood by Jesse all those years ago, and that he has been waiting. In Vienna for her – even though he initially lied and said he didn’t do it either. (Céline’s grandmother died, forcing her to remain in Paris.)

Despite the fact that Jesse is married with a child and that Céline is dating a journalist in Paris, the relationship between the two is as strong as ever, and when it is time for Jesse to head to the airport and return to America, he finds himself in Céline’s apartment instead. The two made no move towards the airport, proving that nine years after their first meeting, Jesse and Celine’s relationship cannot be stopped. In keeping with the nine years between “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset,” the third film, “Before Midnight,” was also filmed, and is set nine years after the previous entry in the trilogy.

If “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset” offer a stunning, romantic glimpse into an engagement, “Before Midnight,” made and set nine years after Jesse missed his flight to Celine’s apartment, is a more revealing glimpse into the couple’s life together . By the time Before Midnight begins, Jesse and Celine are parents to twin girls — all while Jesse struggles to maintain a relationship with his son from his first marriage, Hank (Seamus Davy Fitzpatrick), who lives in Chicago with his mother. Hank leaves Jesse, Celine, and the girls in Greece early in the film and returns home where the two wrestle with some huge life decisions, including what’s next for Celine’s career…and when Jesse suggests that their family simply move to Chicago to live near Hank, A massive fight broke out that seemed as if it had taken many years.

“Before Midnight” is a raw, unflinching look at what’s happening after “Happily Ever After,” which is absolutely worth watching; Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who also co-wrote all three “Before” films with Richard Linklater, are wonderful as their self-made characters, who love each other but find themselves at complete odds. So, will there be a fourth “Before” movie? Linklater has suggested this is a possibilitybut for now, fans have three perfect movies to watch (in the right order).