If you want to know an example of what I consider to be a perfect series, look no further than the dynamic duo of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. I seriously adore these two films about love. Perhaps that's part of their genius. They are very much about love, though not exactly love stories. It's the tale of Celine and Jesse, who spend one night together in Vienna after making a rash decision as strangers to see how things went. Both young, they spend the night and fall for each other, but still don't know if things can last. The sequel picks up nine years later when they happen to meet again in Paris at a book signing. They spend a couple of hours reexamining their flame and what it might mean now.
In the end, the two were brilliant companion pieces following these characters in two days over the course of a decade. By the end of Before Sunset, I was amazingly happy and completely satisfied. As far as I'm concerned, that's one of the best endings to any film, especially any series. Did I want more? No. Hell no. There are some stories that are too perfect to be tampered with; this is very much one of them. The original mystique of a sequel to Before Sunrise provided a tricky but ultimately intriguing idea - what happened to these two? Are they together? Are they strangers? Did their brief love last? The sequel answered these questions magnificently while also provided a very telling look into Celine and Jesse's more mature, older selves.
It was perfect - absolutely perfect. Why mess with perfection? These films are up there with the best of cinema if you ask me. This brings up, of course, a completely different argument. Do we need sequels to classic cinema ever? Look how those sequels to 2001: A Space Odyssey turned out. They answered the ambiguity of Stanley Kubrick's original, but no one liked them or really cares. A Wall Street sequel came out; no one liked it. Of course, these weren't series to begin with, but I'm simply trying to say that I'm not convinced this series ever needed more than two films. There should be a level of ambiguity at the end of the day, shouldn't there?
Stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have been coy about the possibility of a third film for the last couple of years, dropping a lot of "maybe"s or "we're thinking about it"s. There was some talk last week when the two and writer/director Richard Linklater were spotted in Greece, but they shot down the idea that the third film was shooting. Then, it was announced that the film had actually finished filming already. That's right. Before we even got to anticipate what it might be, it was done. It's called Before Midnight and it will be out in 2013.
Rather than react to this news with heated anticipation, I was left with a sense of sadness. Now, I'll know what happened after the ending of Before Sunset. Celine and Jesse's fate is no longer this ambiguous thing that I can play around with in my head whenever I think about the two films. Now, there's a definitive answer, and I'm terrified that it's not worth telling. The question many are asking is whether the film can possibly live up to its predecessors. That's not something I'm terribly worried about. This question was answered with the initial sequel; Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy aren't playing around. They take this seriously and will deliver something great.
The problem is, I'm just not ready for it. I don't want to know what's going on. Don't get me wrong - I'll be there opening night and will no doubt expunge all the expected emotions. There are characters I'm extremely emotionally invested in, after all. Where they are 9 years later (again) is a big deal to me now that I'll actually know. I just have to ask, with little knowledge of the film itself, is it worth knowing?
In the end, the two were brilliant companion pieces following these characters in two days over the course of a decade. By the end of Before Sunset, I was amazingly happy and completely satisfied. As far as I'm concerned, that's one of the best endings to any film, especially any series. Did I want more? No. Hell no. There are some stories that are too perfect to be tampered with; this is very much one of them. The original mystique of a sequel to Before Sunrise provided a tricky but ultimately intriguing idea - what happened to these two? Are they together? Are they strangers? Did their brief love last? The sequel answered these questions magnificently while also provided a very telling look into Celine and Jesse's more mature, older selves.
It was perfect - absolutely perfect. Why mess with perfection? These films are up there with the best of cinema if you ask me. This brings up, of course, a completely different argument. Do we need sequels to classic cinema ever? Look how those sequels to 2001: A Space Odyssey turned out. They answered the ambiguity of Stanley Kubrick's original, but no one liked them or really cares. A Wall Street sequel came out; no one liked it. Of course, these weren't series to begin with, but I'm simply trying to say that I'm not convinced this series ever needed more than two films. There should be a level of ambiguity at the end of the day, shouldn't there?
Stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have been coy about the possibility of a third film for the last couple of years, dropping a lot of "maybe"s or "we're thinking about it"s. There was some talk last week when the two and writer/director Richard Linklater were spotted in Greece, but they shot down the idea that the third film was shooting. Then, it was announced that the film had actually finished filming already. That's right. Before we even got to anticipate what it might be, it was done. It's called Before Midnight and it will be out in 2013.
Rather than react to this news with heated anticipation, I was left with a sense of sadness. Now, I'll know what happened after the ending of Before Sunset. Celine and Jesse's fate is no longer this ambiguous thing that I can play around with in my head whenever I think about the two films. Now, there's a definitive answer, and I'm terrified that it's not worth telling. The question many are asking is whether the film can possibly live up to its predecessors. That's not something I'm terribly worried about. This question was answered with the initial sequel; Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy aren't playing around. They take this seriously and will deliver something great.
The problem is, I'm just not ready for it. I don't want to know what's going on. Don't get me wrong - I'll be there opening night and will no doubt expunge all the expected emotions. There are characters I'm extremely emotionally invested in, after all. Where they are 9 years later (again) is a big deal to me now that I'll actually know. I just have to ask, with little knowledge of the film itself, is it worth knowing?
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