Before Midnight

Richard Linklater shot this instalment on the coast of the Peloponnese in Greece, using among other locations the Kardamyli house that once belonged to the writer Patrick Leigh Fermor. By his own account, after ten weeks of writing and rehearsal the picture was made in 15 days for under 3 million dollars. The opening car conversation is a single unbroken take of 13 minutes. Editor Sandra Adair says Linklater knew at once which one he wanted, but covered the scene conventionally as insurance. The outdoor dinner runs 20 minutes and was gathered over four days with two cameras and nine people at the table; Adair calls it the hardest passage she had to assemble. That crowded table deliberately dilutes the couple midway through, and the hotel room then narrows the same relationship back down to two. Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke were nominated for the Academy Award in Writing (Adapted Screenplay), which went to 12 Years a Slave; the same three had been nominated in that category for Before Sunset in 2005. Delpy also took a Golden Globe nomination and did not win. A good fit if you will sit inside one conversation for 13 minutes before anything happens. Not for anyone expecting Greece as scenery; the camera stays at the table or in the room.