Before Midnight: A Greek Summer in Messenia

The film starts with a farewell. After a holiday on the Peloponnese with Jesse, Céline and their twin daughters, Jesse's teenage son Hank flies home to Chicago, where he lives with his mother. The scene plants the film's sore spot: Jesse reflects on his inability to maintain his relationship with Hank, a worry the film keeps coming back to. Kalamata's airport opened in 1959 and mainly receives flights during the summer; the rest of the film's places lie a drive away across Messenia.

Visitor guidance: A working airport that mainly receives summer flights, so check seasonal schedules before planning a visit.

The holiday is spent at the home of an older writer, played by Walter Lassally, the cinematographer of Zorba the Greek. The house is real: Patrick Leigh Fermor's, at Kalamitsi just outside Kardamyli, found on a fast location scout. Here three generations of friends sit down to a long dinner and talk about love and what lasts, the same dinner that lets Jesse and Céline slip away for a night alone. Since early 2019 the house has been open for guided tours and visits.

Visitor guidance: The house takes visitors on guided tours; check opening details with the Leigh Fermor House before you go.

Their friends have paid for a hotel night, and the couple set off alone. The film spends a long stretch around Methoni Castle, a former Venetian stronghold at the tip of the peninsula. As they walk they compare who they were when young with who they are now, wonder whether they would get together if they met today, and ask if they could stay together for seventy years. You enter over a stone bridge of 14 arches across the moat, and a stone-paved stretch leads to the small fortified islet of Bourtzi.

Visitor guidance: The way in is the main gate over the 14-arch bridge; the sea gate and Bourtzi are at the castle's southern end.

The mood changes at sunset, when the couple reach a village and the sun goes down. The filmmakers' own scene list puts steps in Pylos just before the hotel, and the Hellenic Film Commission lists Pylos among the shooting locations. Pylos is the main harbour on Navarino Bay, and its central Square of the Three Admirals sits near the seafront. An obelisk there marks the allied victory of 1827.

Location precision: The filmmakers' list names only steps in Pylos, not an address; the pin marks the Square of the Three Admirals.

Visitor guidance: The square runs down to the harbour, so a walk to the water takes a few minutes.

The hotel scenes were shot at the Costa Navarino resort, where the producers had also set up the writers while they worked on the final script. Here comes the long hotel-room scene: foreplay, sarcasm, then a full row. Céline leaves the room three times; the third time she sits alone in the hotel's outdoor restaurant. Jesse joins her and pretends to be a time traveller, as he did at their first meeting, and she plays along. They reconcile.

Location precision: Costa Navarino has several resorts and the producers name only the resort; the pin marks its Westin hotel, the one location guides name.

Visitor guidance: Costa Navarino is a resort area, so most facilities are for guests; ask before turning up.