BEFORE MIDNIGHT

This is the third film in Richard Linklater's extraordinary 'Before trilogy', following 'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset'.

Each film is made nine years after the one before, and collectively they track a relationship between American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and French Céline (Julie Delpy).

The most remarkable thing about these films is that they don't have much in the way of a plot but include prolonged dialogue scenes between Jesse and Céline which seem very natural.

At the end of 'Before Sunset' Jesse and Céline had rekindled their relationship.  Nine years on they are still together, living in Paris, and are parents to beautiful twin girls.  Jesse is now a successful writer and Celine has her own career, something to do with environmental projects.  

Does this mean that everything in their world is rosy?

Well not exactly.  Jesse is worried that he doesn't see enough of Hank, his teenage son from a failed marriage, and would like to move back to the US to be closer to him.  Céline is considering a career move, to work for the French government, and is far from keen on moving to the US.

The film, like the previous two, covers a period of less than 24 hours, this time from morning until night at the end of a summer holiday in Greece with some friends.

Unlike the two previous films there is a prolonged scene at lunch time which involves not just Jesse and Céline but also those friends.  It's quite entertaining in its way, with some pertinent conversation about gender relationships, but I was glad when we moved to the evening scenes with just Jesse and Céline.

To start with we follow them walking to a hotel where their friends have booked a room for the night whilst the girls are looked after. They are in a relaxed reminiscent mood which continues for a while when they arrive at the hotel.

But then the matter of a possible move to the US comes up which triggers a passionate argument in which underlying tensions in their relationship come to the surface.

It's gripping stuff which ends beautifully, and is a triumphant end to this extraordinary cinematic achievement. 

Ultimately it all depends on firstly, Hawke and Delpy, and their chemistry, and their ability to create totally believable people, and secondly on the dialogue which is funny, and intelligent, and never feels as though it has been written.

Both the lead actors are superb (again) but in particular Julie Delpy is spectacular in the hotel room scene, and her performance in the final minutes left me very moved.