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| Ethan Hawke | .... | Jesse |
| Julie Delpy | .... | Celine |
Before Sunrise
*Scenario
Opening Scene
[Eurail Coach car. Various people around car]
[Man and woman argue in German. Woman slaps man, grabs newspaper]
[Celene looks up from book, disturbed. Moves to another seat, across from Jesse. They glance over at each other]
[German woman leaves car][Jesse and Celene look at each other, smile. Celene looks away]
Jesse: Do you have any idea what they were arguing about?
Celene: [glances up at him, looks over]
Jesse: Do you - Do you speak English?
Celene: Yeah. No, I'm sorry, my German is not very good. Have you ever heard that as couples get older, they lose their ability to hear each other?
Jesse: No.
Celene: Well, supposedly, men lose the ability to hear higher-pitched sounds, and women eventually lose hearing in the low end. I guess they sort of nullify each other, or something.
Jesse: I guess. Nature's way of allowing couples to grow old together without killing each other. [Celene smiles, small laugh, turns away] What are you reading? [she shows him] Oh, yeah.
Celene: How bout you?
Jesse: Umm. [Looks down, then laughs as he shows her, and she smiles.
[Couple returns to car, still arguing, albeit a lot calmer]
Jesse: Look, I was thinking about going to the lounge car sometime soon. Would you like to come with me?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Okay.
[They go to lounge car]
Scene 2
[Upon entering the dining/lounge car]
Jesse: So how do you speak such good English?
Celene: I went to school for a summer in Los Angeles. [points to table] This fine here?
Jesse: Yeah, this is good. [They sit]
Celene: Then I spent some time in London. How do you speak such good English?
Jesse: Me? I'm American.
Celene: You're American?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Are you sure?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: [laughing] No, I'm joking. I knew you were American. And of course, you don't speak any other language, right?
Jesse: Yeah, yeah, I get it. So I'm the crude, dumb, vulgar American who has no culture, right? But, I tried. I took french for four years in high school. When I first got to Paris, I stood in line at the Métro station. I was practicing. 'Un billet, s'il vous plaît. Un billet s'il vous plaît' y'know --
Celene: [interrupts him, corrects his pronunciation] un billet.
Jesse: 'Un' [corrected]. Whatever. 'Un, Un.' [laughs] 'Un billet s'il vous plaît, un billet s'il vous plaît,' y'know, and I get up there, and, uh, I look at this woman, and my mind goes completely blank. And I start saying, 'uh, listen, uh, I need a ticket to get to... y'know so anyway. So, where are you headed?
Celene: Well, back to Paris. My classes start next week.
Jesse: Oh, you're still in school? Where do you go?
Celene: Yeah, La Sorbonne, you know?
Jesse: Well, sure. [pause] Hey, you coming from Budapest?
Celene: Yeah, I was visiting my grandmother.
Jesse: Oh. How's she?
Celene: [laughing] She's okay.
Jesse: She's alright?
Celene: She's fine, yeah. [pause] How bout you? Where are you going?
Jesse: Uh, I'm going to Vienna.
Celene: Vienna? What's there?
Jesse: Uh, I have no idea. I'm flying out of there tomorrow.
Celene: Ah ha. you on holiday?
Jesse: Uh, ye- [indecisive]. Uh, I don't really know what I'm on.
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: I've just been. I'm just traveling around, I've been riding the trains the past two, three weeks.
Celene: You were visiting friends, or just on your own?
Jesse: Uh, yeah. Y'know I had a friend in Madrid, but, umm..
Celene: Madrid? That's nice.
Jesse: Yeah, I got one of those Eurail passes, is what I did.
Celene: That's great. So, has this trip, around Europe, been good for you?
Jesse: Yeah, sure, yeah, it's been, umm... it sucked. Y'know...
Celene: What?
Jesse: No, uh, it's had its, umm. Well, I'll tell ya, y'know, sitting, y'know, for weeks on end, looking out the window has actually been kinda great.
Celene: What do you mean?
Jesse: Well, you know, for instance, you have ideas that you ordinarily wouldn't have.
Celene: What kind of ideas?
Jesse: You want to hear one?
Celene: Yeah, tell me.
Jesse: Alright, uh, I had this idea, okay?
Celene: Um-hmm...
Jesse: For a television show. Some friends of mine are these cable access producers, do you know what that is, cable access? [Celene shakes her head] Umm, I dunno... Anybody can produce a show real cheap, and they have to put it on. Right? And I have this idea for this show that would last 24 hours a day for a year straight, right? What you do, is you get 365 people from cities all over the world, to do these 24 hour documents of real time, right, capturing life as its lived. Um, you know, it would start with uh, a guy waking up in the morning, and, uh, y'know, taking the long shower, eating a little breakfast, making a little coffee, you know, and, uh, reading the paper.
Celene: Wait, wait. All those mundane, boring things everybody has to do everyday of their fucking life? (oh, whoops)
Jesse: I was going to say the poetry of day to day life, but,[Celene starts laughing] you know, you say the way you say it, I'll say it the way I say it...
Celene: [laughs] I like that.
Jesse: ... No listen, think about it like this...
Celene: Who's gonna want to watch this?
Jesse: Well, alright, think about it like this. Why is it, that a dog, y'know, sleeping in the sun, is so beautiful, y'know, it is, its beautiful, y'know, but a guy, standing at a bank machine, trying to take some money out, looks like a complete moron?
Celene: So, its like a National Geographic program, but on people?
Jesse: Yeah!
Celene: Hmm.
Jesse: What do you think?
Celene: Yeah, I can [laughs] I can [laughs] I can see it. Like twenty four boring hours, sorry, and like a three minute sex scene, where he falls asleep right after, no?
Jesse: Yeah, y'know I mean, and... I mean, that would be a great episode.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: People would talk about that episode. I mean, you and your friends could do one in Paris, if you wanted to, I mean.
Celene: Oh, sure.
Jesse: I dunno, the key, the key.. the thing that kind of haunts me is the distribution, y'know. I mean, getting these tapes from town to town, city to city, so that the play is continuous, cause it would have to play all the time, or else it just wouldn't work.
[Waiter approaches the table, hands them menus.]
Celene: Thank you.
Jesse: Thanks. [pause, while waiter walks away]. You know what? Not service oriented. [music starts, camera begins to pan out] Its just, I don't know, an observation about Europe.
[Scene fades out, fades back in]
Scene 3
[Still in the lounge car, some indeterminate amount of time later].
Celene: You know my parents have never really spoken of the possibility of my falling in love, or getting married, or having children. Even as a little girl, they wanted me to think of a future career, as a, you know, as a interior designer, or a lawyer, or something like that. I'd say to my dad, 'I want to be a writer.' and he'd say journalist. I'd say I wanted to have a refuge for stray cats, and he'd say veterinarian. I'd say I wanted to be an actress, and he'd say TV newscaster. It was this constant conversion of my fanciful ambition into these practical, money-making ventures.
Jesse: Hmm. I always had a pretty good bullshit detector when I was a kid, y'know. I always knew when they were lying to me, y'know. By the time I was in high school, I was dead set on listening to what everybody thought I should be doing with my life, and just kind of doing just the opposite.
Celene: Mm, hmm.
Jesse: No one was ever mean about it. Its just, I could never get very excited about other people's ambitions for my life.
Celene: But you know what, if your parents never really fully contradict you about anything, and like are basically nice, and supportive...
Jesse: Right...
Celene: It makes it even harder to officially complain. Y'know, even when they're wrong, its this, its this passive-aggressive shit, you know what I mean, its... I hate it, I really hate it.
Jesse: Well, you know, despite all that kind of bullshit that comes along with it, I remember childhood as this, you know, this magical time. I do. I remember when, uh, my mother first told me about death. My great-grandmother had just died, and my whole family had just visited them in Florida. I was about 3, 3 and a half years old. Anyway, I was in the backyard, playing, and my sister had just taught me how to take the garden hose, and do it in such a way that, uh, you could spray it into the sun, and you could make a rainbow. And so I was doing that, and through the mist I could see my grandmother. And she was just standing there, smiling at me. And uh, then I held it there, for a long time, and I looked at her. And then finally, I let go of the nozzle, y'know, and then I dropped the hose, and she disappeared. And so I went back inside, and I tell my parents, y'know. And they, uh, sit me down give me big rap on how when people die you never see them again, and how I'd imagined it. But, I knew what I'd seen. And I was just glad that I saw that. I mean, I've never seen anything like that since. But, I don't know. It just kind of let me know how ambiguous everything was, y'know, even death.
Celene: You're really lucky you can have this attitude towards death. I think I'm afraid of death 24 hours a day. I swear. I mean, that's why I'm in a train right now. I could have flown to Paris, but I'm too scared.
Jesse: Oh, come.
Celene: I can't help it. I can't help it. I know the statistics say na-na-na, its safer, whatever [Jesse laughs]. When I'm in a plane, I can see it. I can see the explosion, [Jesse gives explosion sound effect]. I can see me falling through the clouds, and I'm so scared of those few seconds of consciousness before you're gonna die, you know, when you know for sure you're gonna die. I can't stop thinking that way. Its exhausting.
Jesse: Yeah, I bet.
Celene: Really exhausting. [she looks out window, points, as train slows down]. I think this is Vienna.
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: You get off here, no?
Jesse: Yeah, what a drag. I wish I had met you earlier, you know, I really like talking to you.
Celene: Yeah, me too. It was really nice to meet you. [train stops]
Scene 4
[in train, Celene sitting alone, Jesse comes up, with his bag, to her]
Jesse: Alright, I have an admittedly insane idea, but if I don't ask you this, its just, uh, you know, its gonna haunt me the rest of my life.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Um.. [thinks]. I want to keep talking to you, y'know. I have no idea what your situation is, but, uh, but I feel like we have some kind of, uh, connection. Right?
Celene: Yeah, me too.
Jesse: Yeah, right, well, great. So listen, so here's the deal. This is what we should do. You should get off the train with me here in Vienna, and come check out the town.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Come on. It'll be fun. Come on.
Celene: What would we do?
Jesse: Umm, I don't know. All I know is I have to catch an Austrian Airlines flight tomorrow morning at 9:30, and I don't really have enough money for a hotel, so I was just going to walk around, and it would be a lot more fun if you came with me. And if I turn out to be some kind of psycho, you know, you just get on the next train.
[Celene smiles, still unsure]
Jesse: Alright, alright. Think of it like this. Um, uh, jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you're married. Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have, y'know. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those guys you've met in your life, and what might have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right? [Celene starts laughing a bit] Well, I'm one of those guys. That's me. y'know, so think of this as time travel, from then, to now, uh, to find out what you're missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favour to both you and your future husband, to find out that you're not missing out on anything. I'm just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and, uh, you made the right choice, and you're really happy. [motions to towards the door].
Celene: [thinks] Let me get my bag.
Jesse: Yeah.
[They leave train, go into train station]
Jesse: We should get a locker for all this stuff.
Celene: Okay.
[They walk towards the lockers]
Celene: What's your name?
Jesse: My name? Uh, It's Jesse. It's James, actually, but everybody always calls me Jesse. [offers hand]
Celene: You mean, Jesse James? No.
Jesse: No, no. Just Jesse.
Celene: I'm Celene.[they shake hands]
Scene 5
[on bridge above train station]
Jesse: This is a nice bridge.
Celene: Yeah.
[they walk a few steps]
Celene: This is kind of weird.
Jesse: Yeah, this is kind of weird isn't it? I mean, I feel a little awkward. Um... But its alright, right? Its okay.
Celene: Yeah, this is great, this is great. Let's go to some places. Look at your book.
Jesse: Yeah, we're in Vienna, let's go to some places. Let's ask these guys
[two men are looking over the bridge, at the water below.]
Jesse: Excuse me, excuse me, uh, spreken-ze English?
Fatman: Ja, of course.
Skinny: Couldn't you speak German for a change?
Jesse: What?
Skinny: No, it was a joke.
Jesse: Well, listen, we just got into Vienna today, and we're looking for something fun to do.
Celene: Like museums, exhibitions, things...
Skinny: But museums are not that funny any more these days, uh...
Fatman: Uh, but they are closing right now. How long are you going to be here?
Jesse: Just for tonight.
Skinny: Why did you come to Vienna? What, uh, what could you be expecting?
Jesse: Uh
[perplexed]
Celene: We're on honeymoon.
Jesse: Yeah, she got pregnant, we had to get married, y'know.
Skinny: You know I don't believe you, you're a bad liar.
[Skinny and Fatman exchange 2-3 words each in German....]
Skinny: Ja.
Fatman: See here.
[pulls paper out of pocket]
Skinny: This is a play we're both in, and we would like to invite you.
Celene: You're actors?
Skinny: No, not professional actors, uh, part-time actors, for fun.
Fatman: It's a play about a cow, and an Indian searching for it. There are also in it politicians, Mexicans...
Skinny: Russians, Communists,
Fatman: Russians.
Jesse: So, you have a real cow on stage.
Skinny: No, not a real cow. Its an actor in a cow costume.
Fatman: [Indicating Skinny] And he's the cow.
Skinny: Yes, I am the cow. And the cow is a bit weird.
Fatman: The cow has a disease.
Skinny: She's acting a bit strange, like a dog. If someone throws a stick, she fetches it, and brings it back. And she can smoke, with her hooves, and everything.
Celene: Great.
Fatman: And as you see, there is the address. Its in the Second district.
Skinny: Near the Prata. You know the Prata?
Celene: Oh, the big Ferris Wheel?
Skinny: By the wheel, yes.
Celene: Oh, we should go.
Skinny: Yes, the wheel, everybody knows the wheel.
Fatman: Perhaps you can go to the Prata before the play. It starts at 21:30.
Jesse: 21:30?
Skinny: That's 9:30.
Celene: 9:30.
Jesse: 9:30? oh, right, right. Okay, great, well, what's the name of this play?
Skinny: Uh...
Fatman: It translates as 'Bring me the horns ...
Skinny & Fatman: ... of Wilmington's cow'
Skinny: Ja I'm Wilmington's cow.
Jesse: Alright
Celene: Great.
Jesse: We'll try to be there.
Skinny: You'll be there?
Jesse: We'll try.
Skinny: I'm the cow.
Jesse: You're the cow.
Skinny: Goodbye.
Scene 6
[on a tram, going through Vienna]
Jesse: Alright, I got an idea. Are you ready?
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: Alright, it's Q&A time. We've known each other a little while now, we're stuck together, so we're going to ask each other a few, uh, direct questions. Alright?
Celene: So, we ask each other questions.
Jesse: And you have to answer 100% honestly.
Celene: Of course.
Jesse: Okay, alright, first question.
Celene: You.
Jesse: [fakes a German accent]. Describe for me [back to regular] Yes, I'm going to ask you. [German accent again] Describe for me your first sexual feelings towards a person.
Celene: [laughs] My first sexual feelings, oh my G-d. Um, I know, I know. Jean-Marc Floris. [laughs]
Jesse: Jean-Marc Floris?
Celene: I remember we were at this summer camp together. And he was a swimmer.
Jesse: Um-Hmm...
Celene: Yeah, he had bleached out chlorine hair and green eyes. And to improve his times, he'd shave the hair off his legs and arms.
Jesse: That's disgusting.
Celene: Oh, no. He was like this gorgeous dolphin. And my friend Emma had a big, big crush on him. So one day I was cutting, y'know across field, back to my room, and he came walking up beside me. You know, and I told him, you know, you should date Emma, she has a big crush on you. And he turned to me and said [making her voice a bit lower] Well, that's too bad, 'cause I have a big crush on you. [Jesse lets his jaw drop] Yeah, it really scared the hell out of me, because I thought he was so fine. And then he officially asked me out on a date, and y'know I pretended I didn't like him. Y'know I was, I was so afraid of what I might do, you know. Uh, well. So, y'know, I went to see him swim a few times, at the swim competition. And he was so sexy, really, I mean, really sexy. Y'know we kind of wrote these little declarations of love to each other at the end of the summer, and you know, promised we would keep writing forever, and I, y'know, meet again very soon, and
Jesse: Did you?
Celene: Of course not.
Jesse: Well, then I think this is the opportune time to tell you that I happen to be a fantastic swimmer.
Celene: Really?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: I'll make note of that.
Jesse: Okay. Uh..
Celene: So its my turn, no?
Jesse: Yes, yeah, it's your turn.
Celene: Uh, have you ever been in love?
Jesse: Yes. Next question. What was the fir--
Celene: Wait, wait.
Jesse: What?
Celene: Wait a minute.
Jesse: What?
Celene: So I can give one word answers?
Jesse: Sure, why not?
Celene: No, no. After I went into such private details about my first sexual feelings.
Jesse: Yeah, I, I know, but, sexual feel... Those are two very different questions. I mean, I could've answered the sexual feelings thing, no problem, but y'know, love. Well, what if I asked you about love?
Celene: I would have lied, but at least, you know, I would have made up a great story.
Jesse: [while Celene is finishing her line, above] Yeah, well, you would have lied. Great. I mean, love is a complex issue. Y'know, I mean, its like, uh. I mean, yes, I had told somebody that I love them before, and I had meant it. Was it totally a totally unselfish, giving love? Was it a beautiful thing? Not really, y'know. Its like love, I mean, uh, I don't know. Y'know?
Celene: Yeah, I know what you mean.
Jesse: But as far as sexual feelings go, I'll have you know it started with an obsessive relationship with Miss July 1978. Do you know Playboy magazine?
Celene: Oh, yeah, I've heard of it.
Jesse: Yeah? Do you know Crystal?
Celene: No.. [laughing]
Jesse: You don't know Crystal? Well, I knew Crystal. Well... [laughing] Is it, um... my turn now. okay. Tell me something that really pisses you off, really drives you crazy.
Celene: Pisses me off. My G-d. Everything pisses me off.
Jesse: Okay, okay, list a couple.
Celene: Uh, okay. I hate being told by a strange man, a strange man in the street, y'know, like, to smile, like, to make them feel better about their boring life, um, what else? I hate, I hate that 300 kms from here there's a war going on, y'know, people are dying, and nobody knows what to do about it, or they don't give a shit, I don't know. I hate that the medias, you know, they are trying to control our minds.
Jesse: The media?
Celene: Yeah, the media. You know its very subtle, but you know, its a new form of fascism. [Jesse takes that in]. Um, I hate, I hate when I am in foreign countries, especially in America, they are the worst. Each time I wear black, or like, lose my temper, or say anything about anything, they always go 'oh, its so french, its so cute.' [she mimics a puke] I hate that I can't stand that, really.
Jesse: Is that all?
Celene: Well, there's a lot of things, really. So its my turn.
Jesse: Okay.
Celene: You're going to answer
Jesse: Yes, I'll answer.
Celene: Ah, what's a problem for you?
Jesse: You, probably.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Um, No, Alright, I had a thought the other day that was kind of, a, qualifies as a problem.
Celene: What is it?
Jesse: Well, it was a thought I had on the train, so.... Um... okay, alright. Um, Do you believe in reincarnation?
Celene: Yeah, yeah, its interesting.
Jesse: Most people, you know, a lot of people talk about the past lives, and things like that, you know, and even if they don't believe in it in some specific way, you know, people have some kind of notion of an eternal soul, right.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Okay. Well, this is my thought. 50,000 years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. 10,000 years ago, there's like 2,000,000 people on the planet. Now, there's between 5 and 6 billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? Are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls? Because if they are, that represents a 5,000-to-1 split of each soul in just the last 50,000 years, which is like a blip in the earth's time. You know, so, at best, we're like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking... I mean, is that why we're all so scattered? Y'know, Is that why we're all so specialized?
Celene: Wait a minute, I'm not sure I .. I don't....
Jesse: Hang on, I know, I know, its a totally scattered thought, which is kind of why it makes sense.
Celene: Yeah...[unsure, but laughing] I agree with you.
Jesse: Let's get off this damn tram.
[the two exit the tram].
Scene 7
[in a record store, named "Alt & Neu", they are both looking through records, not CDs.]
Jesse: [walks up to Celene.] This place is pretty neat.
Celene: Yeah, there's even a listening booth over there. [finds an album, and shows it to Jesse.] Have you ever heard of this singer? [He shakes his head]. I think she's American. A friend of mine told me about her.
Jesse: [pointing to booth] Do you want to go see if that listening booth still works?
Celene: Yeah, okay.
[They go into listening booth, and put record on]
SONG LYRICS:
(#1) There's a wind that blows in from the north,
And it says that loving takes its course.
Come here. Come here.
No I'm not impossible to touch,
I have never wanted you so much.
Come here. Come here.
Have I never lay down by your side?
Baby, let's forget about this pride.
Come here. Come here. (#3)
Well, I'm in no hurry.
You don't have to run away this time.
I know that you're jimmied,
but it's gonna be all right this time.
[song fades] (#4).
[Note: The following happens during the song. Start points of each key section are marked by *# as in (#1) below is exactly at the point (#1) above]
[(#1) The two start the record, and sit close in the booth. Each looks at the other for a period of time, looking away when the other begins to look at them, again].
[(#2) They are walking along, outside the shop, admiring the architecture]
Jesse: Look at this. This is beautiful.
[They spot a tram, and run to it]
Celene: Quickly. Its leaving. [indicating the tram]
[(#3) They stand on the tram, passing small talk, then when the tram stops, they exit, and go into a park (#4)]
Scene 8
[in park]
Celene: Oh, look, there's a rabbit.
Jesse: Yeah. Hey there, rabbit.
Celene: He's so cute. [sees a cemetery] I visited this as a young teenager. I think it left a bigger impression on me at that time than any of the museums we went to. [they go into the cemetery, and walk through].
Jesse: Yeah? Its tiny.
Celene: I know. There was this little old man that talked to us. He was the grounds keeper. He explained that most of the people are buried here that washed up on the bank of the Danube.
Jesse: How old are these?
Celene: Around the beginning of the century or so. It's called the cemetery of the no-name because the often didn't know who these people were. Maybe a first name, that's all.
Jesse: Why were all the bodies washing up?
Celene: I think some were from accidents, on boats and things like that, but most of them were suicides that jumped in the river. I always liked the idea of all those unknown people lost in the world. When I was a little girl, I thought that if none of your family or friends knew you were dead, then its like not really being dead. People can invent the best and the worst for you. [She sees a gravestone, and indicates it]. Ah, here she is, I think. Yeah, this is, this is the one I remember the most. [Name on gravestone is Elizabeth]. She was only 13 when she died. That meant something to me, you know, I was around that age when I first saw this. Hmm. Now, I'm 10 years older, and she's still, 13, I guess. That's funny. [they leave the cemetery].
Scene 9
[in car on Ferris wheel. Probably the Prata, mentioned earlier, towards nightfall].
Celene: That's the Danube over there.
Jesse: That's the river, right?
Celene: [laughs] Yeah.
[Walking around in the Prata car, admiring the scenery, below]
Jesse: This is gorgeous.
Celene: Yeah, its very beautiful.
Jesse: We got, uh, we got a sunset here.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: We got the Ferris wheel. It seems like, um, this would be a...
Celene: What?
Jesse: [sighs] Uh, you know, uh.
Celene: [putting her arms around him] Are you trying to say you want to kiss me?
Jesse: [Nods head. Mouths, emphatically 'yes']
Celene: [Also nods, and whispers] Yes. [they kiss, then stop and look at each other for a moment. Then, they kiss again.]
Scene 10
[Still in amusement park, walking around, after dark. They get to a Strong-Man machine. Jesse puts in a coin, and a song starts. They dance a bit, until Jesse suddenly stops and elbows the machine hard. His ranking is 70, and is told to him in German. They continue walking...]
Celene: But you know what?
Jesse: What?
Celene: I don't think it really matters what generation you are born into. Look at my parents. They were these angry, young, May '68 people, revolting against everything. You know, the government, their conservative catholic backgrounds, I mean. I was born not long after, and then my father went on to become this successful architect, and they began to travel all around the world, where he built bridges, and towers, and stuff. I mean, I really can't complain about anything. You know, they love me more than anything in the world, and I have been raised with all the freedom they had fought for. And yet for me now, its another type of fight. We still have to deal with the same old shit, but we can't really know who, or y'know, what the enemy is.
Jesse: I don't really know if there is an enemy. You know, I mean, everybody's parents fuck them up. You know, rich kids' parents gave them too much, poor kids' not enough. Too much attention, not enough attention. They either left them, or y'know, they stuck around and taught 'em the wrong things. Y'know. I mean, my parents are just these two people who didn't like each other very much, who, uh, decided to get married and have a kid, and they try their best to be nice to me.
Celene: Did your parents divorce?
Jesse: Yeah. `Finally. They should have done it a lot sooner, but they stuck together for a while for the well-being of my sister and [starts with prim Boston type accent] I, thank you very much. [back to normal voice] I remember my mother once. She told me, right in front of my father, they were having this big fight, that he didn't really want to have me, y'know, that he was really pissed off when he found out that she was pregnant with me, y'know, that I was this big mistake. And I think that really shaped the way I think. I always saw the world as this place where I really wasn't meant to be.
Celene: That's so sad.
Jesse: No, I mean, I eventually kind of took pride in it. Y'know, like my life was my own doing, or something. Y'know, like I was crashing 'The Big Party.'
Celene: That's a way to see it. Y'know, my parents, they're still married, and I guess they're very happy, but I just think its an healthy process to rebel against everything that came before.
Jesse: Yeah. Yeah.
Celene: You know, I've been wondering lately. Do you know anyone who's in a happy relationship?
Jesse: Uh, yeah, sure. Y'know, I know happy couples. But I think they lie to each other.
Celene: Hmf. Yeah. People can lead their life as I lie. My grandmother, she was married to this man, and I always thought she had a very simple, uncomplicated love life. But she just confessed to me that she spent her whole life dreaming about another man she was always in love with. She just accepted her fate. It's so sad. And in the same time, I love the idea that she had all those emotions and feelings I never thought she would have had.
Jesse: I guarantee you, it was better that way. If she'd ever got to know him, y'know, I'm sure he would have disappointed her eventually.
Celene: How do you know? You don't know them.
Jesse: Yeah, I know, I know. It's just, people have these romantic projections they put on everything. Y'know. that's not based on any kind of reality.
Celene: Romantic projections?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Oh, Mr. Romantic, up there in the Ferris Wheel ['cutsie voice'] Oh, kiss me, the sunset, oh, its so beautiful.
Jesse: Oh, alright, alright, alright. Tell me about your grandmother. What were you saying about her?
Celene: No, uh --
[they approach a carousel, and Jesse gets on, Celene stays off]
Scene 11
[Sitting at a cafe. A pair of monks walk by, apparently in prayer].
Jesse: Hey... check these guys out. 'Hey Hans, I have a confession to make. I'm not wearing any underwear underneath this thing.' 'Oh really?' 'Does that frighten you?' [Pause, then Jesse and Celene turn to face one another] Can I tell you a secret?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Come here [brings mouth closer to her ear.]
Celene: What? [She brings her head a bit closer.]
Jesse: Come here [closer, then he turns, and kisses her on the lips.
[they pause, and hear some laughter, they look over at it. There is a gypsy, reading somebody's palm.]
Celene: Look at this palm-reader. She's interesting-looking, no?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Jesse: What, what?
Celene: I just made eye contact.
Jesse: She's not coming over here.
Celene: Yes, she is.
Jesse: Oh, shit. Oh, no.
Celene: Oh my G-d. You want your palm read?
Jesse: No, no.
Celene: No? Are you sure?
Jesse: I'm sure.
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: Hello [mocking]
Celene: Here she is.
Gypsy: [in German] Would you like your hand read?
Celene: Uh, français, English?
Gypsy: [Takes Celene's hand, and touches it. ] Vant your palm read?
Celene: Yeah. How much is it.
Gypsy: For you, fifties. Okay?
Celene: Okay.
Gypsy: Oh, so, you have been on a journey, and you are stranger to this place. You, an adventure, you seek. An adventure in your mind. You are interested in the power of the woman, in a woman's deep strength, and creativity? You are becoming this woman. You need to resign yourself to the awkwardness of life. Only if you find peace within yourself, will you find true connection with others. [indicates, with her head, Jesse] That is a stranger to you?
Celene: I guess so.
Gypsy: [Takes Jesse's hand] Oh, you will be alright. He's learning. Okay [claps hands]. Money. [proffers hand, awaiting payment]
[Celene pays her, and Gypsy begins to walk away. With the money in her hands, Gypsy turns back to Jesse and Celene]
Gypsy: You are both stars, don't forget. And the stars exploded billions of years ago, to form everything that is this world. Everything we know, is stardust. So don't forget, you are stardust.
Jesse: [looks away with cynical expression] I mean, that's very nice and all, I mean, that, y'know, we're all stardust, and you're becoming this great woman, I mean, but I hope you don't take that any more seriously than some horoscope in a daily syndicated newspaper.
Celene: You, what are you talking about? I mean, she knew I was on vacation, and that we didn't know each other, and that [laughs]I was going to become this great woman.
Jesse: Aw c'mon. But what was that 'I am learning' bullshit? I mean, that's WAY condescending. Y'know. I mean, she wasn't even doing me. I mean, if opportunists like that, ever had to tell the real truth, it would put their asses out of business. Y'know. I mean, just once, I'd love to see, some little old lady, save up all her money, y'know, to go to the fortune teller, and she'd get there, all excited about hearing her future, and the woman would say [taking Celene's hand, mimicking a fortune teller, including the voice] UmHmm. Tomorrow, and all your remaining days will be exactly like today--A tedious collection of hours. And you will have no new passions, and no new thoughts, and no new travels, and when you die, you'll be completely forgotten. 50 shillings, please. Y'know, that, I'd like to see.
Celene: Its so funny how she almost didn't notice you, y'know. It's weird. I wonder why. She was, she was really wise, and intense, no? I really loved what she said, you know?
Jesse: Yeah, of course you do, y'know. You pay your money, you get to hear something that makes you feel good about yourself. If you want, maybe there's a seedy section of Vienna, we can go buy a hit of crack, y'know. Would you like that? Yeah?
Celene: You're so [makes gesture to give impressive of wacko]
Jesse: Stardust, Stardust.
Scene 12
[Walking along the streets of Vienna]
[Jesse walks a bit behind Celene, and moves so that she trips over her foot]
Celene: Ow! Ridicule! [french for 'ridiculous'] [Sees poster] Ah, there's an exhibition. Yeah, I guess we'll miss it. Doesn't start until next week.
Jesse: Yeah, I think so.
Celene: [indicates art shown in poster. Poster is of exhibition of art work by Seurat.] I actually saw this one a few years ago in a museum. I stared, and stared at it. Must have been 45 minutes. I love it. La voie ferée. Ah. [points to another work on poster] I love the way the people seem to be dissolving into the background. [Indicates another] Look at this one. Its like the environments, y'know, are stronger than the people. His human figures are always so transitory. Its funny. Transitory?
Jesse: Yeah. Transitory.
Scene 13
[Celene and Jesse approach a Viennese cathedral]
Jesse: Think this is open?
Celene: I don't know, let's try it.
[They enter, and Celene slowly walks down the aisle.]
Celene: [almost whispering] I was in an old church like this with my grandmother a few days ago in Budapest. Even though I reject most of the religious things, I can't help but feeling for all those people that come here lost or in pain, guilt, looking for some kind of answers. It fascinates me how a single place can join so much pain and happiness for so many generations
Jesse: You close with your grandmother?
Celene: Yeah. I think its because I always... I always have this strange feeling that I am this very old woman laying down about to die. You know, that my life is just her memories, or something.
Jesse: That's so wild. I mean, I always think that I'm still this 13 year old boy, y'know who just doesn't really know how to be an adult, pretending to live my life, taking notes for when I'll really have to do it. Kind of like I'm in a dress rehearsal for a Junior High play.
Celene: That's funny. Then, up there in the Ferris wheel, it was like this very old woman kissing this very young boy, right?
Jesse: Hmm. Do you know anything about the Quakers, the Quaker religion?
Celene: No, not much, no.
Jesse: Well, I went to this Quaker wedding once, and it was fantastic. What they do is the couple comes in and they kneel down in front of the whole congregation, and they just stare at each other, and nobody says a word unless they feel that G-d moves them to speak, or say something. And then after an hour or so, of just, uh, staring at each other, they're married.
Celene: That's beautiful. I like that.
[the two stare at each other for a few moments. Celene turns away, and a few moments later, so does Jesse.]
Jesse: This is a horrible story.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Its not the appropriate place to tell it, but...
Celene: What?
Jesse: Well, I was driving around with this buddy of mine, he was a big atheist, and we came to a stop, next to this homeless guy. And my buddy takes out a 100 dollar bill, and leans out the window, and he says, 'do you believe in G-d?' And the guy looks at, uh, he looks at my friend, and he looks at the money, he says, uh, 'Yes, I do.' My friend says, 'Wrong answer.' [motions as if putting money back in pocket], and we drove away.
Celene: That's mean, no?
Jesse: Yeah, uh, its, uh [they stop and look at one another]
Scene 14
[Jesse and Celene, walking beside the Danube]
[Jesse takes a bite at Celene's hand]
Celene: Ow!
Jesse: Would you be in Paris by now, if uh, you hadn't gotten off the train with me?
Celene: [thinks] No not yet. What would you be doing?
Jesse: I'd probably be hanging around the airport, reading old magazines, crying in my coffee [mimics sad voice] cause you didn't come with me. [he kisses her hand a few times]
Celene: Awwww. Actually, I think I'd probably have gotten off the train in Salsburg with someone else.
Jesse: Oh, yeah? Oh, I see. So, I'm just that dumb American momentarily decorating your bland canvass.
Celene: I'm having a great time.
Jesse: Yeah?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Me too.
Celene: I'm so glad because no one knows I'm here, and I don't know anyone that knows you that would tell me all those bad things you've done.
Jesse: MmHmm?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: I'll tell you some.
Celene: Yeah, I'm sure.
Jesse: MmHmm.
Celene: You know, you hear so much shit about people. I always feel like the general of an army when I start dating a guy, y'know, plotting my strategy and manoeuverings, knowing his weak points, what would hurt him, seduce him. It's horrible. [they walk a bit] If we were around each other all the time, what do you think would be the first thing about me that would drive you mad?
Jesse: No, uh, no, no, I'm not gonna answer this question, no.
Celene: Why?
Jesse: I just, I dated this girl once who, who used to always ask me that question, 'What about me bugs you?' y'know. And so finally I said, well, y'know, I, uh, just don't think you handle criticism too well. She flew into a rage, and broke up with me, alright. That's a true story. All she ever really wanted to do was to have an excuse to tell me what she thought was wrong with me, y'know. Is that what you want?
Celene: What?
Jesse: Something about me bugs you?
Celene: No.
Jesse: It's alright. Tell me. What is it? What about me bugs you?
Celene: Nothing, nothing at all.
Jesse: Well, if it had to be something, what would it be?
Celene: If it had to be something, if I had to think about it, I... I kind of didn't really like this reaction back at the palm reader. You were like this rooster prick.
Jesse: Rooster prick?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: I was a rooster prick?
Celene: You were like a little boy whining because all the attention wasn't focused on him.
Jesse: Alright, listen, this woman robs you blind, okay?
Celene: You were like a little boy walking by an ice cream store, crying because his mother wouldn't buy him a milkshake or something.
[a voice comes from behind]
Jesse: I don't care what this woman has to say about anything.
Poet: Hello? [something in German]
Celene: What?
Poet: [Repeats phrase in German]
Celene: Oh, I understand a little bit, but he doesn't, I'm sorry.
Poet: Okay, uh, so, um, may I ask you a question?
Celene: Yeah.
Poet: So, I would like to make a deal with you. I mean, instead of just asking you for money, I will ask you for a word. Yeah, You give me a word, I take the word, and then, and then I will write a poem, with the word inside. And if you like it, I mean, if you like my poem, and you feel it adds something to your life in any way, then you can pay me whatever you feel like. I will write in English, of course.
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: Great, alright.
Poet: So? Pick a word.
[Jesse and Celene look at each other]
Jesse: Ummm...
Celene: A word, uh... milkshake.
Jesse: Milkshake? oh, good. Yeah, was gonna say rooster prick, but great. [turns to poet] Milkshake.
Poet: Milkshake? Okay, milkshake.
Jesse: Yeah, right, so we'll...
Celene: Good.
[poet begins to write]
Jesse: [quietly] What can I say? I like this Viennese variation of a bum.
Celene: I like what he said about adding something to your life, no?
Jesse: Yeah. So, uh, were we having our first fight back there?
Celene: No...
Jesse: Yeah, I think so, I think we were.
Celene: Well, even if we were a little bit, y'know. Why does everyone think conflict is so bad. There's a lot of good things coming out of conflict.
Jesse: Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. I don't know, y'know, I always think that if I could just accept the fact that my life was supposed to be difficult, y'know that's what's to be expected, then, I might not get so pissed off about it, and I'd just be glad when something nice happens.
Celene: Maybe that's why I'm still in school, y'know. Its easier to have something to fight against.
Jesse: Yeah, well, we've all had such competitiveness engrained in us...
[Poet finishes, and rips sheet from book]
Jesse: ...You know, I could be doing the most nothing thing, y'know, I could be, uh, throwing some darts, or shooting some pool, and all of a sudden, I feel it come over me, 'I have got to win'
Celene: Is that why you tried to get me off the train? Competitiveness?
[Poet approaches them]
Jesse: What do you mean?
Poet: Okay. [hands the sheet to them] Look at the poem.
Jesse: [takes poem] Oh, alright. [Opens it up]
Celene: [takes poem from Jesse, offers it back to Poet] Will you read it to us?
Poet: [Takes poem] Sure, okay. [Reads it]
Daydream delusion.
Limousine Eyelash
Oh, baby with your pretty face
Drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes
See what you mean to me
Sweet cakes and milkshakes [laughs]
I am a delusioned angel
I am a fantasy parade.
I want you to know what I think.
Don't want you to guess anymore.
You have no idea where I came from.
We have no idea where we're going.
Launched in life.
Like branches in the river.
Flowing downstream.
Caught in the current.
I'll carry you. You'll carry me.
That's how it could be.
Don't you know me [poet hands poem back]
Don't you know me by now.
Celene: [taking poem] Great. Thanks.
Jesse: Thanks, man [they both reach for coinage to give to the Poet] Uh, Here you go, uh.
Poet: Thanks, thank you.
Celene: Here, thank you.
Poet: Thank you.
Jesse: Yeah, good luck, man.
Poet: Bye.
Jesse/Celene: Bye.
[Celene and Jesse walk away]
Celene: That's wonderful, no?
Jesse: Yeah, yeah.
Celene: What?
Jesse: You know he probably didn't just write that. I mean, you know he wrote it, but he probably just plugs that word in, y'know, whatever 'milkshake'...
Celene: What do you mean?
Jesse: Nothing, I love it, it was great.
Scene 15
[Walking through a square in Vienna]
Jesse: You know what drives me crazy?
Celene: What?
Jesse: Its all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But, what good is saved time, if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Right, I mean, you never hear somebody say, "Well, y'know, with, uh, the time I've saved by using my word processor, I'm gonna go to a Zen monastery and hang out." I mean, you never hear that.
Celene: Time is so abstract anyway. Were you looking at this girl?
Jesse: What? What?
Celene: Nothing.
Jesse: Do you want to go in here? [indicating a bar/club]
Celene: What?
Jesse: Do you want to go in here?
Celene: Yeah. Its a club, no?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Wanna go?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: [to doorman] Àllo.
Doorman: [German equivalent of]50 shillings.
Celene: [to Jesse]50 shillings.
Jesse: [begins taking out money]50 shillings.
Celene: Each.
Jesse: I got a hundred. Here, I got it.
Celene: I'll buy you a beer. [to doorman] Thank you.
[They enter the club. Live German alternative music is playing by a single musician with an acoustic guitar. He finally stops, and says something to the audience.]
Jesse: You gonna buy me a beer?
Celene: Alright.
Jesse: You think Ole Milwaukee's a little expensive here?
[Eurail Coach car. Various people around car]
[Man and woman argue in German. Woman slaps man, grabs newspaper]
[Celene looks up from book, disturbed. Moves to another seat, across from Jesse. They glance over at each other]
[German woman leaves car][Jesse and Celene look at each other, smile. Celene looks away]
Jesse: Do you have any idea what they were arguing about?
Celene: [glances up at him, looks over]
Jesse: Do you - Do you speak English?
Celene: Yeah. No, I'm sorry, my German is not very good. Have you ever heard that as couples get older, they lose their ability to hear each other?
Jesse: No.
Celene: Well, supposedly, men lose the ability to hear higher-pitched sounds, and women eventually lose hearing in the low end. I guess they sort of nullify each other, or something.
Jesse: I guess. Nature's way of allowing couples to grow old together without killing each other. [Celene smiles, small laugh, turns away] What are you reading? [she shows him] Oh, yeah.
Celene: How bout you?
Jesse: Umm. [Looks down, then laughs as he shows her, and she smiles.
[Couple returns to car, still arguing, albeit a lot calmer]
Jesse: Look, I was thinking about going to the lounge car sometime soon. Would you like to come with me?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Okay.
[They go to lounge car]
Scene 2
[Upon entering the dining/lounge car]
Jesse: So how do you speak such good English?
Celene: I went to school for a summer in Los Angeles. [points to table] This fine here?
Jesse: Yeah, this is good. [They sit]
Celene: Then I spent some time in London. How do you speak such good English?
Jesse: Me? I'm American.
Celene: You're American?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Are you sure?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: [laughing] No, I'm joking. I knew you were American. And of course, you don't speak any other language, right?
Jesse: Yeah, yeah, I get it. So I'm the crude, dumb, vulgar American who has no culture, right? But, I tried. I took french for four years in high school. When I first got to Paris, I stood in line at the Métro station. I was practicing. 'Un billet, s'il vous plaît. Un billet s'il vous plaît' y'know --
Celene: [interrupts him, corrects his pronunciation] un billet.
Jesse: 'Un' [corrected]. Whatever. 'Un, Un.' [laughs] 'Un billet s'il vous plaît, un billet s'il vous plaît,' y'know, and I get up there, and, uh, I look at this woman, and my mind goes completely blank. And I start saying, 'uh, listen, uh, I need a ticket to get to... y'know so anyway. So, where are you headed?
Celene: Well, back to Paris. My classes start next week.
Jesse: Oh, you're still in school? Where do you go?
Celene: Yeah, La Sorbonne, you know?
Jesse: Well, sure. [pause] Hey, you coming from Budapest?
Celene: Yeah, I was visiting my grandmother.
Jesse: Oh. How's she?
Celene: [laughing] She's okay.
Jesse: She's alright?
Celene: She's fine, yeah. [pause] How bout you? Where are you going?
Jesse: Uh, I'm going to Vienna.
Celene: Vienna? What's there?
Jesse: Uh, I have no idea. I'm flying out of there tomorrow.
Celene: Ah ha. you on holiday?
Jesse: Uh, ye- [indecisive]. Uh, I don't really know what I'm on.
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: I've just been. I'm just traveling around, I've been riding the trains the past two, three weeks.
Celene: You were visiting friends, or just on your own?
Jesse: Uh, yeah. Y'know I had a friend in Madrid, but, umm..
Celene: Madrid? That's nice.
Jesse: Yeah, I got one of those Eurail passes, is what I did.
Celene: That's great. So, has this trip, around Europe, been good for you?
Jesse: Yeah, sure, yeah, it's been, umm... it sucked. Y'know...
Celene: What?
Jesse: No, uh, it's had its, umm. Well, I'll tell ya, y'know, sitting, y'know, for weeks on end, looking out the window has actually been kinda great.
Celene: What do you mean?
Jesse: Well, you know, for instance, you have ideas that you ordinarily wouldn't have.
Celene: What kind of ideas?
Jesse: You want to hear one?
Celene: Yeah, tell me.
Jesse: Alright, uh, I had this idea, okay?
Celene: Um-hmm...
Jesse: For a television show. Some friends of mine are these cable access producers, do you know what that is, cable access? [Celene shakes her head] Umm, I dunno... Anybody can produce a show real cheap, and they have to put it on. Right? And I have this idea for this show that would last 24 hours a day for a year straight, right? What you do, is you get 365 people from cities all over the world, to do these 24 hour documents of real time, right, capturing life as its lived. Um, you know, it would start with uh, a guy waking up in the morning, and, uh, y'know, taking the long shower, eating a little breakfast, making a little coffee, you know, and, uh, reading the paper.
Celene: Wait, wait. All those mundane, boring things everybody has to do everyday of their fucking life? (oh, whoops)
Jesse: I was going to say the poetry of day to day life, but,[Celene starts laughing] you know, you say the way you say it, I'll say it the way I say it...
Celene: [laughs] I like that.
Jesse: ... No listen, think about it like this...
Celene: Who's gonna want to watch this?
Jesse: Well, alright, think about it like this. Why is it, that a dog, y'know, sleeping in the sun, is so beautiful, y'know, it is, its beautiful, y'know, but a guy, standing at a bank machine, trying to take some money out, looks like a complete moron?
Celene: So, its like a National Geographic program, but on people?
Jesse: Yeah!
Celene: Hmm.
Jesse: What do you think?
Celene: Yeah, I can [laughs] I can [laughs] I can see it. Like twenty four boring hours, sorry, and like a three minute sex scene, where he falls asleep right after, no?
Jesse: Yeah, y'know I mean, and... I mean, that would be a great episode.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: People would talk about that episode. I mean, you and your friends could do one in Paris, if you wanted to, I mean.
Celene: Oh, sure.
Jesse: I dunno, the key, the key.. the thing that kind of haunts me is the distribution, y'know. I mean, getting these tapes from town to town, city to city, so that the play is continuous, cause it would have to play all the time, or else it just wouldn't work.
[Waiter approaches the table, hands them menus.]
Celene: Thank you.
Jesse: Thanks. [pause, while waiter walks away]. You know what? Not service oriented. [music starts, camera begins to pan out] Its just, I don't know, an observation about Europe.
[Scene fades out, fades back in]
Scene 3
[Still in the lounge car, some indeterminate amount of time later].
Celene: You know my parents have never really spoken of the possibility of my falling in love, or getting married, or having children. Even as a little girl, they wanted me to think of a future career, as a, you know, as a interior designer, or a lawyer, or something like that. I'd say to my dad, 'I want to be a writer.' and he'd say journalist. I'd say I wanted to have a refuge for stray cats, and he'd say veterinarian. I'd say I wanted to be an actress, and he'd say TV newscaster. It was this constant conversion of my fanciful ambition into these practical, money-making ventures.
Jesse: Hmm. I always had a pretty good bullshit detector when I was a kid, y'know. I always knew when they were lying to me, y'know. By the time I was in high school, I was dead set on listening to what everybody thought I should be doing with my life, and just kind of doing just the opposite.
Celene: Mm, hmm.
Jesse: No one was ever mean about it. Its just, I could never get very excited about other people's ambitions for my life.
Celene: But you know what, if your parents never really fully contradict you about anything, and like are basically nice, and supportive...
Jesse: Right...
Celene: It makes it even harder to officially complain. Y'know, even when they're wrong, its this, its this passive-aggressive shit, you know what I mean, its... I hate it, I really hate it.
Jesse: Well, you know, despite all that kind of bullshit that comes along with it, I remember childhood as this, you know, this magical time. I do. I remember when, uh, my mother first told me about death. My great-grandmother had just died, and my whole family had just visited them in Florida. I was about 3, 3 and a half years old. Anyway, I was in the backyard, playing, and my sister had just taught me how to take the garden hose, and do it in such a way that, uh, you could spray it into the sun, and you could make a rainbow. And so I was doing that, and through the mist I could see my grandmother. And she was just standing there, smiling at me. And uh, then I held it there, for a long time, and I looked at her. And then finally, I let go of the nozzle, y'know, and then I dropped the hose, and she disappeared. And so I went back inside, and I tell my parents, y'know. And they, uh, sit me down give me big rap on how when people die you never see them again, and how I'd imagined it. But, I knew what I'd seen. And I was just glad that I saw that. I mean, I've never seen anything like that since. But, I don't know. It just kind of let me know how ambiguous everything was, y'know, even death.
Celene: You're really lucky you can have this attitude towards death. I think I'm afraid of death 24 hours a day. I swear. I mean, that's why I'm in a train right now. I could have flown to Paris, but I'm too scared.
Jesse: Oh, come.
Celene: I can't help it. I can't help it. I know the statistics say na-na-na, its safer, whatever [Jesse laughs]. When I'm in a plane, I can see it. I can see the explosion, [Jesse gives explosion sound effect]. I can see me falling through the clouds, and I'm so scared of those few seconds of consciousness before you're gonna die, you know, when you know for sure you're gonna die. I can't stop thinking that way. Its exhausting.
Jesse: Yeah, I bet.
Celene: Really exhausting. [she looks out window, points, as train slows down]. I think this is Vienna.
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: You get off here, no?
Jesse: Yeah, what a drag. I wish I had met you earlier, you know, I really like talking to you.
Celene: Yeah, me too. It was really nice to meet you. [train stops]
Scene 4
[in train, Celene sitting alone, Jesse comes up, with his bag, to her]
Jesse: Alright, I have an admittedly insane idea, but if I don't ask you this, its just, uh, you know, its gonna haunt me the rest of my life.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Um.. [thinks]. I want to keep talking to you, y'know. I have no idea what your situation is, but, uh, but I feel like we have some kind of, uh, connection. Right?
Celene: Yeah, me too.
Jesse: Yeah, right, well, great. So listen, so here's the deal. This is what we should do. You should get off the train with me here in Vienna, and come check out the town.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Come on. It'll be fun. Come on.
Celene: What would we do?
Jesse: Umm, I don't know. All I know is I have to catch an Austrian Airlines flight tomorrow morning at 9:30, and I don't really have enough money for a hotel, so I was just going to walk around, and it would be a lot more fun if you came with me. And if I turn out to be some kind of psycho, you know, you just get on the next train.
[Celene smiles, still unsure]
Jesse: Alright, alright. Think of it like this. Um, uh, jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you're married. Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have, y'know. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those guys you've met in your life, and what might have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right? [Celene starts laughing a bit] Well, I'm one of those guys. That's me. y'know, so think of this as time travel, from then, to now, uh, to find out what you're missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favour to both you and your future husband, to find out that you're not missing out on anything. I'm just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and, uh, you made the right choice, and you're really happy. [motions to towards the door].
Celene: [thinks] Let me get my bag.
Jesse: Yeah.
[They leave train, go into train station]
Jesse: We should get a locker for all this stuff.
Celene: Okay.
[They walk towards the lockers]
Celene: What's your name?
Jesse: My name? Uh, It's Jesse. It's James, actually, but everybody always calls me Jesse. [offers hand]
Celene: You mean, Jesse James? No.
Jesse: No, no. Just Jesse.
Celene: I'm Celene.[they shake hands]
Scene 5
[on bridge above train station]
Jesse: This is a nice bridge.
Celene: Yeah.
[they walk a few steps]
Celene: This is kind of weird.
Jesse: Yeah, this is kind of weird isn't it? I mean, I feel a little awkward. Um... But its alright, right? Its okay.
Celene: Yeah, this is great, this is great. Let's go to some places. Look at your book.
Jesse: Yeah, we're in Vienna, let's go to some places. Let's ask these guys
[two men are looking over the bridge, at the water below.]
Jesse: Excuse me, excuse me, uh, spreken-ze English?
Fatman: Ja, of course.
Skinny: Couldn't you speak German for a change?
Jesse: What?
Skinny: No, it was a joke.
Jesse: Well, listen, we just got into Vienna today, and we're looking for something fun to do.
Celene: Like museums, exhibitions, things...
Skinny: But museums are not that funny any more these days, uh...
Fatman: Uh, but they are closing right now. How long are you going to be here?
Jesse: Just for tonight.
Skinny: Why did you come to Vienna? What, uh, what could you be expecting?
Jesse: Uh
[perplexed]
Celene: We're on honeymoon.
Jesse: Yeah, she got pregnant, we had to get married, y'know.
Skinny: You know I don't believe you, you're a bad liar.
[Skinny and Fatman exchange 2-3 words each in German....]
Skinny: Ja.
Fatman: See here.
[pulls paper out of pocket]
Skinny: This is a play we're both in, and we would like to invite you.
Celene: You're actors?
Skinny: No, not professional actors, uh, part-time actors, for fun.
Fatman: It's a play about a cow, and an Indian searching for it. There are also in it politicians, Mexicans...
Skinny: Russians, Communists,
Fatman: Russians.
Jesse: So, you have a real cow on stage.
Skinny: No, not a real cow. Its an actor in a cow costume.
Fatman: [Indicating Skinny] And he's the cow.
Skinny: Yes, I am the cow. And the cow is a bit weird.
Fatman: The cow has a disease.
Skinny: She's acting a bit strange, like a dog. If someone throws a stick, she fetches it, and brings it back. And she can smoke, with her hooves, and everything.
Celene: Great.
Fatman: And as you see, there is the address. Its in the Second district.
Skinny: Near the Prata. You know the Prata?
Celene: Oh, the big Ferris Wheel?
Skinny: By the wheel, yes.
Celene: Oh, we should go.
Skinny: Yes, the wheel, everybody knows the wheel.
Fatman: Perhaps you can go to the Prata before the play. It starts at 21:30.
Jesse: 21:30?
Skinny: That's 9:30.
Celene: 9:30.
Jesse: 9:30? oh, right, right. Okay, great, well, what's the name of this play?
Skinny: Uh...
Fatman: It translates as 'Bring me the horns ...
Skinny & Fatman: ... of Wilmington's cow'
Skinny: Ja I'm Wilmington's cow.
Jesse: Alright
Celene: Great.
Jesse: We'll try to be there.
Skinny: You'll be there?
Jesse: We'll try.
Skinny: I'm the cow.
Jesse: You're the cow.
Skinny: Goodbye.
Scene 6
[on a tram, going through Vienna]
Jesse: Alright, I got an idea. Are you ready?
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: Alright, it's Q&A time. We've known each other a little while now, we're stuck together, so we're going to ask each other a few, uh, direct questions. Alright?
Celene: So, we ask each other questions.
Jesse: And you have to answer 100% honestly.
Celene: Of course.
Jesse: Okay, alright, first question.
Celene: You.
Jesse: [fakes a German accent]. Describe for me [back to regular] Yes, I'm going to ask you. [German accent again] Describe for me your first sexual feelings towards a person.
Celene: [laughs] My first sexual feelings, oh my G-d. Um, I know, I know. Jean-Marc Floris. [laughs]
Jesse: Jean-Marc Floris?
Celene: I remember we were at this summer camp together. And he was a swimmer.
Jesse: Um-Hmm...
Celene: Yeah, he had bleached out chlorine hair and green eyes. And to improve his times, he'd shave the hair off his legs and arms.
Jesse: That's disgusting.
Celene: Oh, no. He was like this gorgeous dolphin. And my friend Emma had a big, big crush on him. So one day I was cutting, y'know across field, back to my room, and he came walking up beside me. You know, and I told him, you know, you should date Emma, she has a big crush on you. And he turned to me and said [making her voice a bit lower] Well, that's too bad, 'cause I have a big crush on you. [Jesse lets his jaw drop] Yeah, it really scared the hell out of me, because I thought he was so fine. And then he officially asked me out on a date, and y'know I pretended I didn't like him. Y'know I was, I was so afraid of what I might do, you know. Uh, well. So, y'know, I went to see him swim a few times, at the swim competition. And he was so sexy, really, I mean, really sexy. Y'know we kind of wrote these little declarations of love to each other at the end of the summer, and you know, promised we would keep writing forever, and I, y'know, meet again very soon, and
Jesse: Did you?
Celene: Of course not.
Jesse: Well, then I think this is the opportune time to tell you that I happen to be a fantastic swimmer.
Celene: Really?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: I'll make note of that.
Jesse: Okay. Uh..
Celene: So its my turn, no?
Jesse: Yes, yeah, it's your turn.
Celene: Uh, have you ever been in love?
Jesse: Yes. Next question. What was the fir--
Celene: Wait, wait.
Jesse: What?
Celene: Wait a minute.
Jesse: What?
Celene: So I can give one word answers?
Jesse: Sure, why not?
Celene: No, no. After I went into such private details about my first sexual feelings.
Jesse: Yeah, I, I know, but, sexual feel... Those are two very different questions. I mean, I could've answered the sexual feelings thing, no problem, but y'know, love. Well, what if I asked you about love?
Celene: I would have lied, but at least, you know, I would have made up a great story.
Jesse: [while Celene is finishing her line, above] Yeah, well, you would have lied. Great. I mean, love is a complex issue. Y'know, I mean, its like, uh. I mean, yes, I had told somebody that I love them before, and I had meant it. Was it totally a totally unselfish, giving love? Was it a beautiful thing? Not really, y'know. Its like love, I mean, uh, I don't know. Y'know?
Celene: Yeah, I know what you mean.
Jesse: But as far as sexual feelings go, I'll have you know it started with an obsessive relationship with Miss July 1978. Do you know Playboy magazine?
Celene: Oh, yeah, I've heard of it.
Jesse: Yeah? Do you know Crystal?
Celene: No.. [laughing]
Jesse: You don't know Crystal? Well, I knew Crystal. Well... [laughing] Is it, um... my turn now. okay. Tell me something that really pisses you off, really drives you crazy.
Celene: Pisses me off. My G-d. Everything pisses me off.
Jesse: Okay, okay, list a couple.
Celene: Uh, okay. I hate being told by a strange man, a strange man in the street, y'know, like, to smile, like, to make them feel better about their boring life, um, what else? I hate, I hate that 300 kms from here there's a war going on, y'know, people are dying, and nobody knows what to do about it, or they don't give a shit, I don't know. I hate that the medias, you know, they are trying to control our minds.
Jesse: The media?
Celene: Yeah, the media. You know its very subtle, but you know, its a new form of fascism. [Jesse takes that in]. Um, I hate, I hate when I am in foreign countries, especially in America, they are the worst. Each time I wear black, or like, lose my temper, or say anything about anything, they always go 'oh, its so french, its so cute.' [she mimics a puke] I hate that I can't stand that, really.
Jesse: Is that all?
Celene: Well, there's a lot of things, really. So its my turn.
Jesse: Okay.
Celene: You're going to answer
Jesse: Yes, I'll answer.
Celene: Ah, what's a problem for you?
Jesse: You, probably.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Um, No, Alright, I had a thought the other day that was kind of, a, qualifies as a problem.
Celene: What is it?
Jesse: Well, it was a thought I had on the train, so.... Um... okay, alright. Um, Do you believe in reincarnation?
Celene: Yeah, yeah, its interesting.
Jesse: Most people, you know, a lot of people talk about the past lives, and things like that, you know, and even if they don't believe in it in some specific way, you know, people have some kind of notion of an eternal soul, right.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Okay. Well, this is my thought. 50,000 years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. 10,000 years ago, there's like 2,000,000 people on the planet. Now, there's between 5 and 6 billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? Are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls? Because if they are, that represents a 5,000-to-1 split of each soul in just the last 50,000 years, which is like a blip in the earth's time. You know, so, at best, we're like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking... I mean, is that why we're all so scattered? Y'know, Is that why we're all so specialized?
Celene: Wait a minute, I'm not sure I .. I don't....
Jesse: Hang on, I know, I know, its a totally scattered thought, which is kind of why it makes sense.
Celene: Yeah...[unsure, but laughing] I agree with you.
Jesse: Let's get off this damn tram.
[the two exit the tram].
Scene 7
[in a record store, named "Alt & Neu", they are both looking through records, not CDs.]
Jesse: [walks up to Celene.] This place is pretty neat.
Celene: Yeah, there's even a listening booth over there. [finds an album, and shows it to Jesse.] Have you ever heard of this singer? [He shakes his head]. I think she's American. A friend of mine told me about her.
Jesse: [pointing to booth] Do you want to go see if that listening booth still works?
Celene: Yeah, okay.
[They go into listening booth, and put record on]
SONG LYRICS:
(#1) There's a wind that blows in from the north,
And it says that loving takes its course.
Come here. Come here.
No I'm not impossible to touch,
I have never wanted you so much.
Come here. Come here.
Have I never lay down by your side?
Baby, let's forget about this pride.
Come here. Come here. (#3)
Well, I'm in no hurry.
You don't have to run away this time.
I know that you're jimmied,
but it's gonna be all right this time.
[song fades] (#4).
[Note: The following happens during the song. Start points of each key section are marked by *# as in (#1) below is exactly at the point (#1) above]
[(#1) The two start the record, and sit close in the booth. Each looks at the other for a period of time, looking away when the other begins to look at them, again].
[(#2) They are walking along, outside the shop, admiring the architecture]
Jesse: Look at this. This is beautiful.
[They spot a tram, and run to it]
Celene: Quickly. Its leaving. [indicating the tram]
[(#3) They stand on the tram, passing small talk, then when the tram stops, they exit, and go into a park (#4)]
Scene 8
[in park]
Celene: Oh, look, there's a rabbit.
Jesse: Yeah. Hey there, rabbit.
Celene: He's so cute. [sees a cemetery] I visited this as a young teenager. I think it left a bigger impression on me at that time than any of the museums we went to. [they go into the cemetery, and walk through].
Jesse: Yeah? Its tiny.
Celene: I know. There was this little old man that talked to us. He was the grounds keeper. He explained that most of the people are buried here that washed up on the bank of the Danube.
Jesse: How old are these?
Celene: Around the beginning of the century or so. It's called the cemetery of the no-name because the often didn't know who these people were. Maybe a first name, that's all.
Jesse: Why were all the bodies washing up?
Celene: I think some were from accidents, on boats and things like that, but most of them were suicides that jumped in the river. I always liked the idea of all those unknown people lost in the world. When I was a little girl, I thought that if none of your family or friends knew you were dead, then its like not really being dead. People can invent the best and the worst for you. [She sees a gravestone, and indicates it]. Ah, here she is, I think. Yeah, this is, this is the one I remember the most. [Name on gravestone is Elizabeth]. She was only 13 when she died. That meant something to me, you know, I was around that age when I first saw this. Hmm. Now, I'm 10 years older, and she's still, 13, I guess. That's funny. [they leave the cemetery].
Scene 9
[in car on Ferris wheel. Probably the Prata, mentioned earlier, towards nightfall].
Celene: That's the Danube over there.
Jesse: That's the river, right?
Celene: [laughs] Yeah.
[Walking around in the Prata car, admiring the scenery, below]
Jesse: This is gorgeous.
Celene: Yeah, its very beautiful.
Jesse: We got, uh, we got a sunset here.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: We got the Ferris wheel. It seems like, um, this would be a...
Celene: What?
Jesse: [sighs] Uh, you know, uh.
Celene: [putting her arms around him] Are you trying to say you want to kiss me?
Jesse: [Nods head. Mouths, emphatically 'yes']
Celene: [Also nods, and whispers] Yes. [they kiss, then stop and look at each other for a moment. Then, they kiss again.]
Scene 10
[Still in amusement park, walking around, after dark. They get to a Strong-Man machine. Jesse puts in a coin, and a song starts. They dance a bit, until Jesse suddenly stops and elbows the machine hard. His ranking is 70, and is told to him in German. They continue walking...]
Celene: But you know what?
Jesse: What?
Celene: I don't think it really matters what generation you are born into. Look at my parents. They were these angry, young, May '68 people, revolting against everything. You know, the government, their conservative catholic backgrounds, I mean. I was born not long after, and then my father went on to become this successful architect, and they began to travel all around the world, where he built bridges, and towers, and stuff. I mean, I really can't complain about anything. You know, they love me more than anything in the world, and I have been raised with all the freedom they had fought for. And yet for me now, its another type of fight. We still have to deal with the same old shit, but we can't really know who, or y'know, what the enemy is.
Jesse: I don't really know if there is an enemy. You know, I mean, everybody's parents fuck them up. You know, rich kids' parents gave them too much, poor kids' not enough. Too much attention, not enough attention. They either left them, or y'know, they stuck around and taught 'em the wrong things. Y'know. I mean, my parents are just these two people who didn't like each other very much, who, uh, decided to get married and have a kid, and they try their best to be nice to me.
Celene: Did your parents divorce?
Jesse: Yeah. `Finally. They should have done it a lot sooner, but they stuck together for a while for the well-being of my sister and [starts with prim Boston type accent] I, thank you very much. [back to normal voice] I remember my mother once. She told me, right in front of my father, they were having this big fight, that he didn't really want to have me, y'know, that he was really pissed off when he found out that she was pregnant with me, y'know, that I was this big mistake. And I think that really shaped the way I think. I always saw the world as this place where I really wasn't meant to be.
Celene: That's so sad.
Jesse: No, I mean, I eventually kind of took pride in it. Y'know, like my life was my own doing, or something. Y'know, like I was crashing 'The Big Party.'
Celene: That's a way to see it. Y'know, my parents, they're still married, and I guess they're very happy, but I just think its an healthy process to rebel against everything that came before.
Jesse: Yeah. Yeah.
Celene: You know, I've been wondering lately. Do you know anyone who's in a happy relationship?
Jesse: Uh, yeah, sure. Y'know, I know happy couples. But I think they lie to each other.
Celene: Hmf. Yeah. People can lead their life as I lie. My grandmother, she was married to this man, and I always thought she had a very simple, uncomplicated love life. But she just confessed to me that she spent her whole life dreaming about another man she was always in love with. She just accepted her fate. It's so sad. And in the same time, I love the idea that she had all those emotions and feelings I never thought she would have had.
Jesse: I guarantee you, it was better that way. If she'd ever got to know him, y'know, I'm sure he would have disappointed her eventually.
Celene: How do you know? You don't know them.
Jesse: Yeah, I know, I know. It's just, people have these romantic projections they put on everything. Y'know. that's not based on any kind of reality.
Celene: Romantic projections?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Oh, Mr. Romantic, up there in the Ferris Wheel ['cutsie voice'] Oh, kiss me, the sunset, oh, its so beautiful.
Jesse: Oh, alright, alright, alright. Tell me about your grandmother. What were you saying about her?
Celene: No, uh --
[they approach a carousel, and Jesse gets on, Celene stays off]
Scene 11
[Sitting at a cafe. A pair of monks walk by, apparently in prayer].
Jesse: Hey... check these guys out. 'Hey Hans, I have a confession to make. I'm not wearing any underwear underneath this thing.' 'Oh really?' 'Does that frighten you?' [Pause, then Jesse and Celene turn to face one another] Can I tell you a secret?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Come here [brings mouth closer to her ear.]
Celene: What? [She brings her head a bit closer.]
Jesse: Come here [closer, then he turns, and kisses her on the lips.
[they pause, and hear some laughter, they look over at it. There is a gypsy, reading somebody's palm.]
Celene: Look at this palm-reader. She's interesting-looking, no?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Jesse: What, what?
Celene: I just made eye contact.
Jesse: She's not coming over here.
Celene: Yes, she is.
Jesse: Oh, shit. Oh, no.
Celene: Oh my G-d. You want your palm read?
Jesse: No, no.
Celene: No? Are you sure?
Jesse: I'm sure.
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: Hello [mocking]
Celene: Here she is.
Gypsy: [in German] Would you like your hand read?
Celene: Uh, français, English?
Gypsy: [Takes Celene's hand, and touches it. ] Vant your palm read?
Celene: Yeah. How much is it.
Gypsy: For you, fifties. Okay?
Celene: Okay.
Gypsy: Oh, so, you have been on a journey, and you are stranger to this place. You, an adventure, you seek. An adventure in your mind. You are interested in the power of the woman, in a woman's deep strength, and creativity? You are becoming this woman. You need to resign yourself to the awkwardness of life. Only if you find peace within yourself, will you find true connection with others. [indicates, with her head, Jesse] That is a stranger to you?
Celene: I guess so.
Gypsy: [Takes Jesse's hand] Oh, you will be alright. He's learning. Okay [claps hands]. Money. [proffers hand, awaiting payment]
[Celene pays her, and Gypsy begins to walk away. With the money in her hands, Gypsy turns back to Jesse and Celene]
Gypsy: You are both stars, don't forget. And the stars exploded billions of years ago, to form everything that is this world. Everything we know, is stardust. So don't forget, you are stardust.
Jesse: [looks away with cynical expression] I mean, that's very nice and all, I mean, that, y'know, we're all stardust, and you're becoming this great woman, I mean, but I hope you don't take that any more seriously than some horoscope in a daily syndicated newspaper.
Celene: You, what are you talking about? I mean, she knew I was on vacation, and that we didn't know each other, and that [laughs]I was going to become this great woman.
Jesse: Aw c'mon. But what was that 'I am learning' bullshit? I mean, that's WAY condescending. Y'know. I mean, she wasn't even doing me. I mean, if opportunists like that, ever had to tell the real truth, it would put their asses out of business. Y'know. I mean, just once, I'd love to see, some little old lady, save up all her money, y'know, to go to the fortune teller, and she'd get there, all excited about hearing her future, and the woman would say [taking Celene's hand, mimicking a fortune teller, including the voice] UmHmm. Tomorrow, and all your remaining days will be exactly like today--A tedious collection of hours. And you will have no new passions, and no new thoughts, and no new travels, and when you die, you'll be completely forgotten. 50 shillings, please. Y'know, that, I'd like to see.
Celene: Its so funny how she almost didn't notice you, y'know. It's weird. I wonder why. She was, she was really wise, and intense, no? I really loved what she said, you know?
Jesse: Yeah, of course you do, y'know. You pay your money, you get to hear something that makes you feel good about yourself. If you want, maybe there's a seedy section of Vienna, we can go buy a hit of crack, y'know. Would you like that? Yeah?
Celene: You're so [makes gesture to give impressive of wacko]
Jesse: Stardust, Stardust.
Scene 12
[Walking along the streets of Vienna]
[Jesse walks a bit behind Celene, and moves so that she trips over her foot]
Celene: Ow! Ridicule! [french for 'ridiculous'] [Sees poster] Ah, there's an exhibition. Yeah, I guess we'll miss it. Doesn't start until next week.
Jesse: Yeah, I think so.
Celene: [indicates art shown in poster. Poster is of exhibition of art work by Seurat.] I actually saw this one a few years ago in a museum. I stared, and stared at it. Must have been 45 minutes. I love it. La voie ferée. Ah. [points to another work on poster] I love the way the people seem to be dissolving into the background. [Indicates another] Look at this one. Its like the environments, y'know, are stronger than the people. His human figures are always so transitory. Its funny. Transitory?
Jesse: Yeah. Transitory.
Scene 13
[Celene and Jesse approach a Viennese cathedral]
Jesse: Think this is open?
Celene: I don't know, let's try it.
[They enter, and Celene slowly walks down the aisle.]
Celene: [almost whispering] I was in an old church like this with my grandmother a few days ago in Budapest. Even though I reject most of the religious things, I can't help but feeling for all those people that come here lost or in pain, guilt, looking for some kind of answers. It fascinates me how a single place can join so much pain and happiness for so many generations
Jesse: You close with your grandmother?
Celene: Yeah. I think its because I always... I always have this strange feeling that I am this very old woman laying down about to die. You know, that my life is just her memories, or something.
Jesse: That's so wild. I mean, I always think that I'm still this 13 year old boy, y'know who just doesn't really know how to be an adult, pretending to live my life, taking notes for when I'll really have to do it. Kind of like I'm in a dress rehearsal for a Junior High play.
Celene: That's funny. Then, up there in the Ferris wheel, it was like this very old woman kissing this very young boy, right?
Jesse: Hmm. Do you know anything about the Quakers, the Quaker religion?
Celene: No, not much, no.
Jesse: Well, I went to this Quaker wedding once, and it was fantastic. What they do is the couple comes in and they kneel down in front of the whole congregation, and they just stare at each other, and nobody says a word unless they feel that G-d moves them to speak, or say something. And then after an hour or so, of just, uh, staring at each other, they're married.
Celene: That's beautiful. I like that.
[the two stare at each other for a few moments. Celene turns away, and a few moments later, so does Jesse.]
Jesse: This is a horrible story.
Celene: What?
Jesse: Its not the appropriate place to tell it, but...
Celene: What?
Jesse: Well, I was driving around with this buddy of mine, he was a big atheist, and we came to a stop, next to this homeless guy. And my buddy takes out a 100 dollar bill, and leans out the window, and he says, 'do you believe in G-d?' And the guy looks at, uh, he looks at my friend, and he looks at the money, he says, uh, 'Yes, I do.' My friend says, 'Wrong answer.' [motions as if putting money back in pocket], and we drove away.
Celene: That's mean, no?
Jesse: Yeah, uh, its, uh [they stop and look at one another]
Scene 14
[Jesse and Celene, walking beside the Danube]
[Jesse takes a bite at Celene's hand]
Celene: Ow!
Jesse: Would you be in Paris by now, if uh, you hadn't gotten off the train with me?
Celene: [thinks] No not yet. What would you be doing?
Jesse: I'd probably be hanging around the airport, reading old magazines, crying in my coffee [mimics sad voice] cause you didn't come with me. [he kisses her hand a few times]
Celene: Awwww. Actually, I think I'd probably have gotten off the train in Salsburg with someone else.
Jesse: Oh, yeah? Oh, I see. So, I'm just that dumb American momentarily decorating your bland canvass.
Celene: I'm having a great time.
Jesse: Yeah?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Me too.
Celene: I'm so glad because no one knows I'm here, and I don't know anyone that knows you that would tell me all those bad things you've done.
Jesse: MmHmm?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: I'll tell you some.
Celene: Yeah, I'm sure.
Jesse: MmHmm.
Celene: You know, you hear so much shit about people. I always feel like the general of an army when I start dating a guy, y'know, plotting my strategy and manoeuverings, knowing his weak points, what would hurt him, seduce him. It's horrible. [they walk a bit] If we were around each other all the time, what do you think would be the first thing about me that would drive you mad?
Jesse: No, uh, no, no, I'm not gonna answer this question, no.
Celene: Why?
Jesse: I just, I dated this girl once who, who used to always ask me that question, 'What about me bugs you?' y'know. And so finally I said, well, y'know, I, uh, just don't think you handle criticism too well. She flew into a rage, and broke up with me, alright. That's a true story. All she ever really wanted to do was to have an excuse to tell me what she thought was wrong with me, y'know. Is that what you want?
Celene: What?
Jesse: Something about me bugs you?
Celene: No.
Jesse: It's alright. Tell me. What is it? What about me bugs you?
Celene: Nothing, nothing at all.
Jesse: Well, if it had to be something, what would it be?
Celene: If it had to be something, if I had to think about it, I... I kind of didn't really like this reaction back at the palm reader. You were like this rooster prick.
Jesse: Rooster prick?
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: I was a rooster prick?
Celene: You were like a little boy whining because all the attention wasn't focused on him.
Jesse: Alright, listen, this woman robs you blind, okay?
Celene: You were like a little boy walking by an ice cream store, crying because his mother wouldn't buy him a milkshake or something.
[a voice comes from behind]
Jesse: I don't care what this woman has to say about anything.
Poet: Hello? [something in German]
Celene: What?
Poet: [Repeats phrase in German]
Celene: Oh, I understand a little bit, but he doesn't, I'm sorry.
Poet: Okay, uh, so, um, may I ask you a question?
Celene: Yeah.
Poet: So, I would like to make a deal with you. I mean, instead of just asking you for money, I will ask you for a word. Yeah, You give me a word, I take the word, and then, and then I will write a poem, with the word inside. And if you like it, I mean, if you like my poem, and you feel it adds something to your life in any way, then you can pay me whatever you feel like. I will write in English, of course.
Celene: Okay.
Jesse: Great, alright.
Poet: So? Pick a word.
[Jesse and Celene look at each other]
Jesse: Ummm...
Celene: A word, uh... milkshake.
Jesse: Milkshake? oh, good. Yeah, was gonna say rooster prick, but great. [turns to poet] Milkshake.
Poet: Milkshake? Okay, milkshake.
Jesse: Yeah, right, so we'll...
Celene: Good.
[poet begins to write]
Jesse: [quietly] What can I say? I like this Viennese variation of a bum.
Celene: I like what he said about adding something to your life, no?
Jesse: Yeah. So, uh, were we having our first fight back there?
Celene: No...
Jesse: Yeah, I think so, I think we were.
Celene: Well, even if we were a little bit, y'know. Why does everyone think conflict is so bad. There's a lot of good things coming out of conflict.
Jesse: Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. I don't know, y'know, I always think that if I could just accept the fact that my life was supposed to be difficult, y'know that's what's to be expected, then, I might not get so pissed off about it, and I'd just be glad when something nice happens.
Celene: Maybe that's why I'm still in school, y'know. Its easier to have something to fight against.
Jesse: Yeah, well, we've all had such competitiveness engrained in us...
[Poet finishes, and rips sheet from book]
Jesse: ...You know, I could be doing the most nothing thing, y'know, I could be, uh, throwing some darts, or shooting some pool, and all of a sudden, I feel it come over me, 'I have got to win'
Celene: Is that why you tried to get me off the train? Competitiveness?
[Poet approaches them]
Jesse: What do you mean?
Poet: Okay. [hands the sheet to them] Look at the poem.
Jesse: [takes poem] Oh, alright. [Opens it up]
Celene: [takes poem from Jesse, offers it back to Poet] Will you read it to us?
Poet: [Takes poem] Sure, okay. [Reads it]
Daydream delusion.
Limousine Eyelash
Oh, baby with your pretty face
Drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes
See what you mean to me
Sweet cakes and milkshakes [laughs]
I am a delusioned angel
I am a fantasy parade.
I want you to know what I think.
Don't want you to guess anymore.
You have no idea where I came from.
We have no idea where we're going.
Launched in life.
Like branches in the river.
Flowing downstream.
Caught in the current.
I'll carry you. You'll carry me.
That's how it could be.
Don't you know me [poet hands poem back]
Don't you know me by now.
Celene: [taking poem] Great. Thanks.
Jesse: Thanks, man [they both reach for coinage to give to the Poet] Uh, Here you go, uh.
Poet: Thanks, thank you.
Celene: Here, thank you.
Poet: Thank you.
Jesse: Yeah, good luck, man.
Poet: Bye.
Jesse/Celene: Bye.
[Celene and Jesse walk away]
Celene: That's wonderful, no?
Jesse: Yeah, yeah.
Celene: What?
Jesse: You know he probably didn't just write that. I mean, you know he wrote it, but he probably just plugs that word in, y'know, whatever 'milkshake'...
Celene: What do you mean?
Jesse: Nothing, I love it, it was great.
Scene 15
[Walking through a square in Vienna]
Jesse: You know what drives me crazy?
Celene: What?
Jesse: Its all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But, what good is saved time, if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work.
Celene: Yeah.
Jesse: Right, I mean, you never hear somebody say, "Well, y'know, with, uh, the time I've saved by using my word processor, I'm gonna go to a Zen monastery and hang out." I mean, you never hear that.
Celene: Time is so abstract anyway. Were you looking at this girl?
Jesse: What? What?
Celene: Nothing.
Jesse: Do you want to go in here? [indicating a bar/club]
Celene: What?
Jesse: Do you want to go in here?
Celene: Yeah. Its a club, no?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: Wanna go?
Jesse: Yeah.
Celene: [to doorman] Àllo.
Doorman: [German equivalent of]50 shillings.
Celene: [to Jesse]50 shillings.
Jesse: [begins taking out money]50 shillings.
Celene: Each.
Jesse: I got a hundred. Here, I got it.
Celene: I'll buy you a beer. [to doorman] Thank you.
[They enter the club. Live German alternative music is playing by a single musician with an acoustic guitar. He finally stops, and says something to the audience.]
Jesse: You gonna buy me a beer?
Celene: Alright.
Jesse: You think Ole Milwaukee's a little expensive here?
Scene 16
[still in club. Playing pinball. Celene is playing, and she loses her ball. Both are drinking beer.]
Celene: [hitting the machine] Merde!
Jesse: [taking over, and starting playing] Well, um, we haven't talked about this yet, but, are you dating anyone? You got a boyfriend waiting on you back in Paris, or anything like that?
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