ABSTRACT
The films of the Before series tend to be defined in contrast to conventional cinematic treatments of romance – especially Hollywood romantic comedies and melodramas. This chapter suggests the Before films exhibit a similar ‘co-existence of naïve acceptance and scepticism’ – perhaps towards narrative generally, but certainly towards romance narratives in particular. In both artistic and everyday contexts, a ‘romance’ (etymologically: ‘story’) is among the most common narrative forms into which human action is organised. The chapter argues that the Before films both dramatise via their characters, and express aesthetically through their form, an ambivalent meditation on this fact. It addresses their endings in turn, focusing especially on how these relatively ‘open’ – yet nonetheless ‘deliberate and concerted’ – conclusions navigate that conventional ‘end’ of romance: the final couple happy ending.
