Gotham Nom: Linklater, Delpy, Hawke Talk ‘Before Midnight’

One of the most beloved cinema trilogies doesn’t involve superheroes or the supernatural. Richard Linklater, along with his valiant collaborators Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, have brought us the “Before” series. Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and this year Before Midnight have made us fall for Celine and Jesse.

Delpy and Hawke developed the characters from inception, functioning as both writers and actors in the films. As the characters evolve, the process of the storytelling does as well.

I was ecstatic to speak with director Linklater along with the two stars. Not only have these films defied the odds of indie filmmaking, they’ve also proved powerful explorations of the human heart.

We talk how the trio drives the story’s stakes, shows us raw reality and utilizes a 14 minute take. Oh, then there’s Linklater and Hawke’s even longer 12 year project.

ATW: I want to first congratulate you all on your Gotham Awards nomination for Best Feature! Given the ceremony is tonight, are awards something you look forward to or are they nerve wracking?

H: I think if anybody were overly concerned with awards they wouldn’t go about writing these movies at all. In their DNA they’re designed to be anti-showy. It’s a strange thing; something about our country has decided to make everything a competition. It’s a strange feeling to make such a big deal out of it. You know that it would help your career to get awards and things but you just have to have a sense of humor about the whole thing.

ATW: I know that these films have some devoted fans, me being one of them. Have there been things that audiences have said to you guys or certain moments that motivate you to continue making the movies?

L: It was so different between the movies. After the first movie, no one asked for a second movie. We would look at each other and joked I cant’ believe they’re letting us do this movie. There were three people on the planet that wanted to see it! There were a few fans, no one was clamoring for a sequel. The fact that we did it begged the question for another. Any interview we do for another film, it’s a total fair and reasonable question to ask, ‘Are we going to see Celine and Jesse again?’’ Not only do we want to do this there’s some vague expectation out there.

ATW: The sense of urgency is much different in Before Midnight. How did you find things that these characters hadn’t said to each other, intricacies that pushed the plot forward and kept the stakes high?

H: You’re putting your finger on the essential question. You realize why there are so few movies about people in the middle of their marriage. It’s difficult to find out where the drama is.

D: How do you make a movie that someone wants to watch? It’s so un-glamorous. It hasn’t been done much too.

L: We spent a lot of time in the script writing process going through those 9 years, going through their lives. Every element that ends up in the final movie, we had thought about. We want to fill everyone in on 9 years in one day. We want you to be dropped into that reality. We’re asking ourselves this whole time Have they had this argument before- is this an ongoing discussion? You spend most of your time dealing with the here and the now.

ATW: You definitely employ this in the 14-minute take in the car. How did you use the mise en scène cinema theory to sort of re-introduce us to our characters?

L: Well, I mean we’re dropped down into Celine and Jesse’s reality. You see people existing in real time. I think on some unconscious level the audience has to accept what they’re watching as a reality. Something about a car window is something like the screen in cinema. I’m not cutting to a close up saying this is an important line.

D: You can look at who you want to look at. You can look at Jesse when he’s talking or listening to her.

L: You get to know these two people who are the protagonists of this movie.

D: In movies, it’s dictated to you. [Here] you can pick who to watch.

ATW: Tell me about filming the scene in the hotel room. It was incredible but must have been exhausting.

H: By the time we’re filming we’ve rehearsed so much. One of the wonderful things about the simplicity of how this is made is it allows for rehearsal.

D: Never enough!

H: If we’re driving somewhere for more than 10 minutes, let’s rehearse the car scene!

ATW: How do you all unwind after these strenuous scenes?  

H: You don’t relax when it’s over. It’s not a marathon it’s a sprint. It’s a short shoot; you’ve got to give it your all. It was my favorite wrap party I’ve ever been too!

ATW: Ethan and Richard last I heard you were wrapping the final short film in Boyhood or the 12 year project. What about this project has kept you passionate for such a long period of time?

L: I think the fact that when we did Before Sunset, we had already started the 12-year film. It gave a little more courage for these films, to have a bigger conceptual project. Ethan’s character is very different from Jesse in so many ways.

H: But the idea of using film to tell a story over a long period of time.

L: With the Before movies it is that 9 years, in the 12 Year Project time moves must more incrementally. You realize his hair’s different, the voice is lower but it’s not punctuating the gaps.

H: The gaps speak almost as loudly as what we’re filming.

ATW: Julie, the boys have this project, what’s up next for you?

D: I’m trying to do my next film so I don’t know which one will go first. It might not be my own writing. I’m hoping to do this bigger film so it’s dependent on budget. I have many, many screenplays from dramas to comedies and it’s just a question of people financing them. I’m lucky because I have French money involved. Possibly my next film will be French film. I’d love to do a period piece!