Lauded and beloved, Richard Linklater’s ‘Before‘ Trilogy, comprised of “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset,” and “Before Midnight,” is characterized by its nuanced, evocative writing. The spontaneity of the lines in Richard Linklater’s trilogy demonstrates how dialogue can not only envelop an audience, but be the driving force of a plotline.
In a video essay by The Royal Ocean Film Society, the screenplays of Linklater’s ‘Before’ Trilogy is given an in-depth look. Most script structure starts with plot and use dialogue as a way to explain, encapsulate, and be otherwise in service to the central, preconceived story. The ‘Before’ Trilogy flips this notion, using dialogue as the force that frames and captures plot and resolve. These films use dialogue in a way that feels natural and unhearsed. It feels instead like what we are witnessing is two characters, Jesse and Celine, having an honest, organic conversation improvised by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
These three films showcase Linklater’s strength as a writer: the writing doesn’t feel like traditional, formatted writing. We’re constantly left guessing, not knowing where the conversation will turn, and the result is a feeling of conversational authenticity. The dialogue appears real and unrehearsed when it is, in fact, the exact opposite.
