Søren Kierkegaard and the book ‘Fear and Trembling’

The subject of this review is the philosophical treatise Fear and Trembling by Danish philosopher, theologian, and religious author Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard uses the Binding of Isaac, in chapter 22 of the Old Testament Book of Genesis in the Bible, to share his personal view of religion and human psychology by using God‘s command that Abraham prepare to sacrifice his son Isaac.

(An image of Søren Kierkegaard, the writer of Fear and Trembling).

At it’s core, the argument presented by Kierkegaard uses the test of faith presented in the Binding of Isaac story to define faith, first, as an emotion-driven rather than reason-driven thing; that is, faith cannot be experienced or explained through reason or rationality alone. Secondly, the goal seems to be one of offering readers a path to recognizing, and respecting, the personal struggle required to attain religious faith. That a result of these points is the point that the scientific method cannot help you to feel religious faith is an inevitable consequence of the at least the first point. The choosing of respect or disrespect of disobeying the scientific method to achieve religious faith is not a requirement, nor am argument raised by Kierkegaard, for this final point.

(An image of Regine Olsen, the one-time fiancée to Søren Kierkegaard).

The argumentation by Kierkegaard uses the ethical system of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the aesthetic stories of Agnes and the Merman as found in Danish and Norwegian folklore, the Greek tragic play Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripedes, among others, to help the reader understand distinctions between the outer world of ethics and aesthetics on the one hand, and the inner world of the spirit, on the other. Another line of thought considers Fear and Trembling to be autobiographical for Kierkegaard, with the author working himself through the loss of his fiancée Regine Olsen; this interpretation would have Abraham standing in for Kierkegaard while Isaac stands in for Olsen.

I give Fear and Trembling as written by Søren Kierkegaard 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Cat Stevens and the album ‘Teaser and the Firecat’

The fifth studio album for Cat Stevens, who would later rename himself Yusuf Islam, was released this month in 1971. Teaser and the Firecat offered ten songs in the pop/rock, album rock, soft rock and singer/songwriter categories suggested by the American online music database. Stevens was born in London, England.

(Shown here is the cover art for the album Teaser and the Firecat, the fifth studio effort released by Cat Stevens).

The Wind opens Teaser and the Firecat seeing Stevens, as quoted on Songfacts here, examining “spirituality and fate, listening to the wind of his soul to find his direction. At the time, he was exploring Eastern philosophy following a life-threatening bout of tuberculosis.” Recorded in London, the song would be used in the Cameron Crowe movie Almost Famous (2000), among others.

With a verse sung in Greek, Rubylove was recorded in Los Angeles, California of the United States. As noted on the Playing Cat Stevens blog here, this song allowed friends of Cat Stevens’ father “over to the studio to play on the record with their bouzouki.” The instrument is similar to a mandolin in sound, though Greek in origin.

If I Laugh meditates on the aftermath of a deeply impactful relationship that has run its course to an unhappy ending. The relationship need only be meaningful and missed, with Stevens making a statement for doing the work for recovery. The meaning here helps me greatly.

The fourth song on the album, Changes IV, as noted on the Playing Cat Stevens blog here, “was recorded with Gerry Conway playing live drums. Those background claps on the album recording were actually Cat’s ingenious idea.” The song amplifies the message of change being a necessary teacher in life, as raised in the song If I Laugh.

(An image of Cat Stevens, later renamed Yusuf Islam, from 1971).

How Can I Tell You gets into the notion of a writer feeling “something so immense that he can’t think of words to describe how he is feeling[, thus] it becomes difficult to write songs,” as stated here. The song captures the elusiveness of this forthrightly.

Tuesday’s Dead brings an uplifting playfulness to finding the peace of mind and purpose in a life that hasn’t provided the experiences to light the path through the confusion. That the human condition is this kind of messy need not diminish the light; Stevens says to lift the bushel and shine despite what embarrassment or pain you feel to get to peace, allowing the past to remain there once you can.

Morning Has Broken, along with the remainder of the songs on Teaser and the Firecat, were recorded in London. Charting ninth in the United Kingdom and sixth in the United States, as noted here, the song provides a “reworking of a 1931 children’s hymn by Eleanor Farjeon, who also wrote a lot of children’s poetry. The lyric is a reference to the book of Genesis in the Bible, where God creates Earth on the “first morning.””

Bitterblue is a negotiation of sorts in coming to some form of understanding about moving forward with understanding and acceptance. While I can see this living in the context of a human relationship, I see this more expansively within the context of the Teaser and the Firecat album as an effort to reach spiritual understanding with the divine, perhaps existentially. I hear a distinct sense for what Cat Stevens is trying to reject within the dialogue he shares with us in Bitterblue.

(Moonshadow, released as a single in the United Kingdom in 1970 and in the United States a year later, is a part of the Cat Stevens album Teaser and the Firecat).

Moonshadow charted 22nd in the United Kingdom and 30th in the United States, as noted here. This song gets into finding hope in any situation; being present and joyful; seeing life as it is, right now, and not comparing it to others’ lives, or other times in your life. The message is to be present in the current moment rather than worrying about what could be, or what has been, since the richness of life rests in experiencing the present moment.

Peace Train charted as high as seventh in the United States, as indicated here. In the song, Cat Stevens sings of a hopefulness for people coming together, peacefully, to form a unified togetherness of purpose, direction and peace. Stevens is quoted as saying he was “was revisiting a very Greek-sounding riff – the kind of thing you’d hear on a Greek island. The words were attached to that time, my peace anthem. It ended every show that I did and was quite a show stopper. It was a very important song for me because it stated one of the big goals of my life which was heading straight for that peace.”

(Released in the United States after Moonshadow, Peace Train became the first U.S. Top 10 hit for the performer. Stevens would later change his name to Yusuf Islam).

Musicians accompanying Stevens on Teaser and the Firecat include Harvey Burns on drums, Gerry Conway on drums and voices, Alun Davies on guitar, Angelos Hatzipavli on the bouzouki, Del Newman on strings, Paul Samwell-Smith on finger cymbals and vocals, Larry Steele on bass and congas, Andreas Toumazis on the bouzouki and Rick Wakeman on the piano and organ.

Matt – Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Carson McCullers and the book ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’

Written in the Southern gothic tradition of the American literary canon for its “emphasis on individuals who are considered outcasts because of race, politics, disability, or sensibility,” as quoted in the Encyclopædia Britannica here, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter as written by Carson McCullers receives our attention today.

(The writing career of Carson McCullers, shown here, saw its first success with the publishing of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter on June 4, 1940).

The central protagonist of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is John Singer, a deaf man living in a mill town of 1930s Georgia, a state in the southern region of the United States. Singer is left lonely when his Greek companion, a mute named Spiros Antonapoulos, is committed to a psychiatric hospital as insane. Singer becomes the glue for the community of disaffected misfits who confide their feelings to him with no understanding of his, John Singer’s, inner world.

(Alternate book covers for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers).

The remaining story focuses largely on the confidences placed into Singer, as quoted here, by “Mick Kelly, a tomboy who loves music and dreams of buying a piano; Jake Blount, an alcoholic labor agitator; Biff Brannon, the observant owner of a diner; and Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland, an idealistic physician.” In the absence of spoken feedback from Singer, who communicated through sign language with Antonapoulos, each of Singer’s acquaintances assume that Singer emotionally sympathizes with their particular demographic. It was in this revelation that we as readers get to know the characters without addressing the pursuit of loved understanding that each of the characters’ needs. This comes to a head for the novel, and for Singer, when Antonapoulos suffers a fate that devastates Singer more than an insanity diagnosis.

(The title for the book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter came from the poem The Lonely Hunter by the Scottish poet William Sharp. Pictured here is Carson McCullers, the writer of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter).

The experience of the Carson McCullers book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter earns 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars for its heart, its unique narrative structure of using a mute as the protagonist, and the semi-autobiographical nature of the character Mick Kelly.

Matt – Saturday, September 23, 2023

Season Three of television series ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’

A third 8-episode season of Amazon Prime Original Series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (2018-2023) was presented to fans of the series starring John Krasinski as Dr. Jack Ryan in December of 2022. Reprising characters from a series of best-selling “thrillers with detailed themes of espionage, military, science, politics and technology” (Biography.Com) written by Tom Clancy, Jack Ryan was central to many of those books while doing the same for this series. Here’s our reviews of season one and season two of the series.

(From left, Michael Epp as Russian scientist Yuri Bashkin and John Krasinski as Jack Ryan in season three of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

This season invokes the threat of a nuclear conflict thanks to a secret 1969 project in what had been the U.S.S.R., otherwise called the Soviet Union. Soviet officer Luka Gocharov orders the end of project Sokol in a heinous slaughter of the scientists responsible for the project at the hands of the military. With the aid Zoya Ivanova, Jack Ryan receives a tip that the program has been resurrected under Russian guidance with the suspected object of detonating the weapon. A sophisticated attempt to build actionable intelligence takes Jack to a cargo ship where a scientist on the relaunched project is pursued with Ryan in Athens, Greece. James Cosmo portrayed Gocharov as Ana Ularu portrayed Ivanova.

(From left, Adam Vacula as Radek Breza as Alena Kovac’s body guard and Nina Hoss as Czech president Alena Kovac in the third season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

As this is happening, president of Czechia Alena Kovac meets publicly with the Russian defense minister, the last of which being when the defense minister shot dead in Prague. Alexei Petrov ascends to power as the new defense minister with plans of escalating the profile of Russia back to the world power Russia had been when a prominent part in the former Soviet Union. Unknown to most of the relevant power players as the season unfolds, the father of the Czech president (Petr Kovac) is working with Petrov toward similar ends as the new defense minister. Nina Hoss, Peter Guinness and Alexej Manvelov portrayed Alena Kovac, Petr Kovac and Alexei Petrov, respectively.

(From left, James Cosmo as Luka Gocharov, Alexej Manvelov as Alexei Petrov and Peter Guinness as Petr Kovac in season three of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

At the center of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) response includes Jack seeking support from James Greer, former Chief of Station in Moscow, and Chief of Station for Rome, Italy, Elizabeth Wright. The dynamic takes an interesting trajectory over the course of the season, with power plays built interpersonally and professionally taking turns that impact the plays available to Jack Ryan in the field. Ryan reaches out to Michael November, as portrayed by Michael Kelly, introducing a separate dynamic at play between Wright and Greer. Wendell Pierce and Betty Gabriel portrayed James Greer and Elizabeth Pierce, respectively.

(From left, Betty Gabriel as Elizabeth Wright, Chief of Station Rome, and Wendell Pierce as James Greer in the third season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan).

From the storytelling perspective, the best thing for me with the third season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan is that the story took what felt like a storyline distinct from the Tom Clancy books that I have read. While a nuclear device in fact was a central storyline for a major book in the Jack Ryan book, this book went in a distinct direction. I found this series entertaining, though felt echoes of the television series 24 (2001-2010) and The Bourne Series (2002-2012) of movies when watching this season. Overall, I grant season three of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Agatha Christie and the book ‘Murder in the Mews’

The musings of detective Hercule Poirot had me interested to a degree recently that I took to reading the four short stories collected into the Agatha Christie book titled Murder in the Mews. The collected stories included three cases of death with another considering thievery.

(Agatha Christie wrote the four short stories included with Murder in the Mews book, each story featuring Hercule Poirot).

The lead story for the book collection is also titled Murder in the Mews, with Inspector Japp calling in Poirot in when the details of a suspected murder simply seeming like they don’t add up. A similar notion is explored with the third story of the collection, Dead Man’s Mirror, with a significantly different set of social dimensions in play. The manner of Hercule Poirot‘s arrival at the scene of the second story offers interesting intrigue of its own. Getting to the truth of discerning the motivations in play, and what the true nature of events are, lend themselves to some clever deductions that led me to one properly detected solution from the pair.

(The four Agatha Christie short stories included in Murder in the Mews are Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft, Dead Man’s Mirror and Triangle at Rhodes).

The Incredible Theft brings us top secret plans for an aircraft meant for military fighting. A house party brings many into the household where the plans are, only to be stolen from right under the nose of the party’s host. The laying out of events, motivations and opportunities to perpetuate the work of clandestine services leave an incredible impression upon me for having steered the drama away from death. I especially appreciate the subject matter and partially catching the proper outcome for this story.

(Alternative covers for the Agatha Christie book Murder in the Mews, which in four short stories featuring Hercule Poirot).

Triangle at Rhodes brings about the ruination of a holiday for Hercule Poirot, as a love triangle intersects with a visit to Rhodes, Greece. The tale brings an interesting approach to someone dying, yet not until much later in the story. The fact that somebody is heading to their end, with Hercule Poirot and his “little gray cells” there to save the day, offers a decidedly intriguing take on when it is appropriate to take advice. Coming in as the shortest story in the collection, the resolution certainly delivers.

(Four short stories featuring Hercule Poirot are the reward offered for reading the Agatha Christie book titled Murder in the Mews).

The short stories of Triangle at Rhodes, Dead Man’s Mirror, The Incredible Theft and Murder in the Mews are your reason to foray into this collection of works by Agatha Christie. My enjoyment leads me to recommend the Murder in the Mews collection as written by Agatha Christie with a rating of 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Monday, November 7, 2022

Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain in the Ang Lee movie ‘Life of Pi’

A truly stunning and visual epic story awaits you with the movie Life of Pi (2012), a movie directed by Ang Lee that celebrates the tenth anniversary of release later this fall. The movie is based upon Canadian writer Yann Martel‘s book Life of Pi, which was released in September of 2001.

(From left, Rafe Spall as The Writer and Irrfan Khan as Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel, adult in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).

The story of Life of Pi follows first the spiritual and metaphysical life of Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel, who is portrayed at various life stages by Gautam Belur at age 5, Ayush Tandon from age 11 to 12, Suraj Sharma from age 16 to 17, and finally Irrfan Khan as an adult. A young writer portrayed by Rafe Spall meets Pi as a middle-aged adult, requesting the telling of Patel’s life story as fodder for writing a life of the man’s epic adventure. It is there that we are first introduced to Piscine Molitor Patel as a young child from Pondicherry, India. The city has also been called Puducherry, Putucceri and Pondichéry.

(From left, Tabu as Gita Patel, Pi’s mother, and Adil Hussain as Santosh Patel, Pi’s father, in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).

We meet Pi’s family, along with the naming of Pi after a famous French swimming pool named Piscine Molitor in Paris. We see the boy grow alongside his older brother and parents, adopting the Greek letter Pi as his name to avoid bullying. Tabu portrayed Gita Patel, Pi’s mother who aids Pi’s spiritual growth through Hinduism, Christianity and then Islam as he grows. Pi’s father tries to secularize Pi in rational tradition, introducing the boy to the family’s zoo. Santosh Patel, as portrayed by Adil Hussain, forces Pi to see the Bengal tiger named Richard Parker kill a goat as a lesson to Patel’s son in the true nature of the animal. Pi’s brother, Ravi Patel, was portrayed by Ayaan Khan at age 7, Mohd. Abbas Khaleeli at age 13 to 14, and Vibish Sivakumar at age 18 to 19.

(Shravanthi Sainath as Anandi, Pi’s adolescent girlfriend in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).

The course of Pi’s story looks first to the adolescent affection he feels for a girl named Anandi, as portrayed by Shravanthi Sainath. The hopefulness of this blossoms, until Patel family father Santosh announces the familial need to see the family’s animals and move to Canada. The family sets sail, with the animals, on a Japanese freighter destined for the family’s new homeland. A storm at sea separates Pi from his family, who survives when thrown by a sailor onto a lifeboat as the Patel family, the freighter, and many crew and animals drown in the Mariana Trench.

(Suraj Sharma as Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel, ages 16-17, in the Ang Lee movie Life of Pi).

Pi survives in his lifeboat, first with a zebra, an orangutan, a spotted hyena and the Bengal tiger, Robert Parker. Adrift with some significant and fantastic challenges that follow, the movie affords life lessons that run the metaphysical and spiritual through a tale of survival that ultimately takes Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel to Mexico. The telling asks compelling questions through a fantastic and visually stunning epic tale that matches the underlying story to those visuals in ways that justify the presence of the visuals.

(From left, director Ang Lee and actor Suraj Sharma).

The invitation for self-reflection that is presented to the audience, cleverly and with immense satisfaction for this reviewer, brings an uplifting conclusion to a journey appreciated. The sadness that begins the journey, when moving to the lifeboat, is the hardest turn. I grant Life of Pi as directed by Ang Lee 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Anthony Doerr and the book ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel’

Published in September 2021, Anthony Doerr‘s Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel offers an interesting look into time, place and theme with a single book holding the threads of interpersonal understanding together. The term cloud cuckoo land itself critiques someone as living too much in their own narrow point of view, which helps those considering the parallel narratives bound together in the novel we view today.

(The book Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel pictured next to its author, Anthony Doerr).

The central characters of Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel aim to understand the world around them. First, characters Anna and Omeir appear on opposite sides of the formidable city walls during the 1453 Fall of Constantinople; Constantinople is modern day Istanbul, Turkey. Second, we meet teenage idealist Seymour in an attack on a public library in present day Idaho. Third, we meet Konstance, decades into the future, aboard an interstellar ship bound for an exoplanet. Anna, Omeir, Seymour, and Konstance are dreamers who find hope in the face of danger through their own initiative.

(An alternate cover to Anthony Doerr‘s most recent book, Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel).

A fictional story within Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel inspires the four central characters of the novel. A comedy titled The Birds by Greek dramatist Aristophanes inspires the fictional tale of Aethon, a shepherd longing to be turned into a bird. As a bird, Aethon wishes to fly to a magical land in the clouds without pain and suffering. Within Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel, Doerr attributes the fictional tale is attributed to Greek romantic Antonius Diogenes, a historical figure who would have written the piece roughly 500 to 600 years after the piece that actually inspired Anthony Doerr.

(Anthony Doerr‘s book Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel was released in September, 2021).

Many additional works of classical fiction are incorporated into the larger experiences of the central characters of this novel. The stories of Anna and Omeir overlap in real time, whereas the binding of the characters of rests with the love of Seymour and Konstance find their feet through the literature referenced within Doerr‘s narrative. I found charm in the journeys of the four central characters, each of whom experiences tragedy, grief and loss the almost begs for the escape one might find in a metaphorical cloud cuckoo land; the internally fictional Cloud Cuckoo Land attributed to Antonius Diogenes by Doerr, along with other classical pieces of literature that I will not name here, bring joy to the librarian or literature major alike.

(Anthony Doerr pictured next to his book, Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel).

The payoff for Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel rests in no small extent to the precocious quality of the central characters in coping with their realities. The charm of weaving classical references to other literature in time, both hypothetical and legitimate, adds charm for those well read in classics to pick up allusions made by the author. I grant Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel as written by Anthony Doerr 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Monday, November 22, 2021

Anthony Everitt and the book ‘Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death’

Alexander the Great lived almost 2,400 years ago. Serving as a king of Macedonia, a territory in south-central Balkans that comprises north-central Greece, southwestern Bulgaria, and the independent Republic of North Macedonia, lived from 356 BCE to 323 BCE. Alexander the Great served as king of Macedonia for 13 years, from age 20 until his death at the age of 33.

(Marble Bust of Alexander the Great).

The book Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death by Anthony Everitt is a review of the life of the military and political leader taught by Greek philosopher, scientist, and intellectual Aristotle. Everitt aims to offer a glimpse of Alexander the Great, as much as can be done through the lens of time without modern tools or direct evidence, as he existed and was judged in real terms during his lifetime.

(Anthony Everitt wrote the book Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death).

The book itself takes the reader through Alexander the Great‘s military conquests through Greece, Persia, and ultimately to India, kicking off what the world understands as the Hellenistic age that started with Alexander‘s death. The aim of the book, in part, is to remove some of the mythology added to the story of Alexander through different cultural reviews of the man in order to give a truer sense of the man from an evaluation of him, again, through the lens of his own age.

(Entry of Alexander into Babylon by Charles Le Brun).

The story of Alexander the Great within Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death shares with the reader a relatable depiction of the man as he ascends to power through military accomplishment, leadership and, above all, competent and generous handling of men under his command. Alexander took power after his father’s assassination by avenging (through death) those responsible for his father’s murder. Alexander, too, killed those who opposed his assumption of the Macedonian crown. Taking over campaign already sanctioned by his father prior to said father’s death, the path to power was begun.

(Alexander Consulting the Oracle of Apollo by Louis Jean Francois Lagrenée).

Much of the book recounts subsequent regional conquests undertaken by Alexander the Great, demonstrating a military leader who campaigned for territory, influence and, in many ways, magnanimous rule over his own people as well as those who lost sovereign control to the Macedonian campaigns. The reach of the cultural and land conquests undertaken by the forces led by Alexander were enormous. The overthrowing of a Persian empire, a talented field commander, and the glorification of war were all parts of Alexander the Great‘s legacy. In summarizing the life of the commander, Anthony Everitt acknowledges that in modern times that Alexander the Great would be considered a war criminal. Greece, the Middle East, and Egypt were the ruling powers after Alexander the Great.

(The book Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death was written by Anthony Everitt).

The book Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death by Anthony Everitt was an entertaining, non-fiction read for me. I grant the book 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater’s ‘Before Trilogy’

A special event to Matt Lynn Digital: This guest review of Richard Linklater‘s Before Trilogy of movies was written by blog friend Cobra.

(The three Before Trilogy films reviewed in this film are Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight).

The following review contains certain spoilers, but the films discussed are not so much about any surprise about what happens but about the emotional journey experienced by two characters over the course of two decades.

In 1995, Richard Linklater introduced us to Jesse and Céline in Before Sunrise (1995).  An aspiring writer, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is on his way back to the United States and has to catch a flight early the next morning while Céline (Julie Delpy) is returning to college in Paris. Jesse convinces Céline to leave the train with him in Vienna and over the course of the night, they explore the city, share their pasts and their hopes and dreams and falling in love along the way. They agree to meet back in the same place six months later but not to exchange contact before then.

(Julie Delpy as Céline, left, and Ethan Hawke as Jesse in Before Sunrise).

Before Sunset (2004) picks up nine years later (and was made after the same amount of time). Céline is an environmental activist and Jesse is now a published author. He is in Paris doing a book tour and Céline wanders into the small bookshop where he is reading. They never met in Vienna after six months. Céline’s grandmother had died and Jesse initially lies and says he did not return either, though later confesses that he did. Jesse is also married and has a young son waiting for him back in the US. Once again, Jesse must catch a train to connect with his flight back home, but he spends the day with Céline finally following her back home to hear her sing and dance. The film ends leaving the viewer wondering whether Jesse leaves to catch his train.

(Ethan Hawke as Jesse, left, and Julie Delpy as Céline in Before Sunset).

Once again, nine years later, Before Midnight (2013) returns us to these characters to let us know what has happened with their lives. Jesse never did catch that train and has now built a life with Céline. They have twin daughters and Jesse’s son Hank has just caught a plane back home after spending the summer in Greece with his father and Céline. Living in Paris with his son in the US, Jesse laments that he wishes he could be more present in his son’s life. Céline predicts that this moment will be the start of the end of their relationship when he will start resenting her, which Jesse vehemently denies.

(Ethan Hawke as Jesse, left, and Julie Delpy as Céline in Before Midnight).

Jesse and Céline spend another day together, first with a group of friends (the first time we see them interacting for any extended time with people other than each other), and then as they go to spend the night together in a room that was a gift from their friends. What starts as a pleasant afternoon turns into a bitter fight digging up long dormant resentments and leaving question about the future of these characters.

Ethan Hawke once said that Before Sunrise is about what could be, Before Sunset is about what might be, and Before Midnight is about what is. This seems like a very apt description. In fact, Before Midnight does something that few other films about romantic relationships do: it ends with a note of uncertainty. While other films will show couples fight, they typically end with a make-up where the viewer gets the sense that “everything is and will be all right.” And while Before Midnight does end with the characters slowly making up, there is still a feeling that they’ve opened up wounds that may never fully heal and leaving the viewer wondering if Jesse and Céline will in fact make it.

(Director and co-writer of the Before Trilogy, Richard Linklater).

Linklater gave us a fascinating and understated trilogy with these three films. And, with 2022 marking nine years since Before Midnight, we have to wonder if these characters will be revisited once more.  Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy have all said they wouldn’t return to them unless they felt there was a real story left to be told and that as of now, they feel the story is complete. But it’s hard for viewers to not wonder if Jesse and Céline made it through the storm.

Cobra – Monday, January 27, 2020

[Editorial Note: Guest posts such as this one may occasionally appear on Matt Lynn Digital.]