The
Greeting: Hello, Everyone. Thanks for
dropping by. As customary, I hope you and yours are well.
The Update: I continue to take time away from the hustle and
bustle that is the indie life. My new book Seeing
Ghosts continues to pick up good reviews which makes me very pleased. It
isn’t selling like bottled water on hundred degree days, but it’s doing
alright. Thank you for that. I can’t take too much time away as I must begin
planning for the big July book tour that I’m doing. If you don’t see me around
for much of the summer, that’s why.
The
Relaxation: In the meantime I have
been reading a lot. I have read three books in the past weeks with my limited
time. All have been really good. I was planning on telling you about them, but
I haven’t had the time to give them proper justice. Rest assured that I will.
Instead, my wife and I just got back from the theater where we took a stroll
with two of our favorite characters in modern film, Celine and Jesse.
The Movie: Before Midnight
is the third chapter in the series that first began nearly twenty years ago with
Before Sunrise. Nine years ago it was
followed by Before Sunset. All three
films are the work of stars Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Director Richard
Linklater. The series has become so special and such a labor of love that the
two stars once again joined in the creation of the screenplay as they did with Sunset.
The Disclaimer: If you haven’t seen the films before, you’re really
going to want to catch up. If you don’t, the film will just come across as unsettling.
It has its tough and sad moments. However, if you are invested in these
characters and their lives – which we’ve literally followed nearly every step
of the way – I think you’ll really appreciate the ride.
The Catch Up: In the first film, Celine and Jesse meet
on a train in Europe. Sensing a connection the strangers get off the train and
explore Vienna for about a day. At the end of their adventure, they are no
longer two strangers, but a couple. Unfortunately, they cannot be together forever
and must part at the end with hopes of meeting once again in the not so distant
future. The second film carries the tag line: “Is there someone who lingers in
your memory – someone who makes you wonder what might have been?” This time
around, they meet in Paris. Jesse has written a book detailing a character’s
love and loss, mirroring his own loss at never having reuniting with the woman
who stole his heart in Vienna - Until he turns and sees her. Rather than an
entire day, this time they only have an afternoon to decide if “lightning
strikes twice”, and whether or not it can be bottled. (Now go see those films.
I’ll wait…)
The Next
Chapter: Jesse drops off his son from
his first marriage at the airport after their vacation together in Greece. We
follow him out to the car to find Celine waiting there, along with their twin
daughters. Life has been good to them, mostly, but issues linger. It is killing
Jesse that he only spends days a year with his son, but there isn’t anything to
be done about it. Celine is feeling pressured to give up her dreams, believes that Jesse
blames her for his regrets and the choices he’s made, and worried that the
relationship is coming to an end. At a dinner scene they and their friends take
a great deal of time, asking the question whether love is real or just a fairy
tale.
The High
Points: We’ve seen so much of Europe
in this series and Midnight doesn’t disappoint.
We are surrounded by beauty, geography and history. Yet, it is really the dialogue that is the
heart of these films. We literally follow them around for tens of minutes
without edit and it is the selling point. In film we are accustomed to
following the characters around as they wake up, prepare for their day, fill
their day, fight, make love and fall asleep. However, never do we get the
entire unedited picture. This series acts as if it were a documentary of two
real people; people we’ve fallen in love with. They are oftentimes graphic with
their humor, subject matter and language, but they are real. After all of these
years they still love each other. It’s just a different kind of love. One that
is real and all too familiar to each of us who have been in a committed
relationship that has spanned decades.
The Final Note: If you haven’t seen the films, send
the kids away, find a place on the love seat and catch up. Then get to the
theater and see the latest installment. Will it be the last film? Who knows? I’d
kind of like to see how Celine and Jesse are doing as seniors. But not yet. We’ve
all got a lot of living to do before then.
We’ll talk soon.
