Before Sunset Page #3

awareness. People are gonna fight back.

The world might be getting better

because people like you...

...are educated and speaking out.

Even the very notion of conservation,

environmental issues...

...weren't in the vocabulary

till fairly recently.

And they're becoming the norm and

eventually might be what's expected.

I agree with what you're saying,

but at the same time it's dangerous.

An imperialist country can use

that kind of thinking...

...to justify their economic greed.

Is there any particular imperialist country

you have in mind, there, Frenchie?

- No, not really.

- No?

- So you wanna sit over there?

- Yeah, this is perfect.

Oh, wow. Maybe what I'm saying is...

...the world might be evolving

the way a person evolves.

Like, I mean, me, for example.

Am I getting worse?

Am I improving? I don't know.

When I was younger, I was healthier...

...but I was wracked with insecurity,

you know?

Now I'm older and my problems

are deeper...

...but I'm more equipped

to handle them.

So, what are your problems?

Right now I don't have any.

I don't, you know? I'm just...

...damn happy to be here.

Me too.

So how long have you been in Paris?

I got in last night.

I've done 0 cities in 2 days.

I'm wrecked. I'm so glad it's over,

you know?

I'm tired of being a huckster.

- Hi.

- Hello.

What do you want?

A cup of coffee.

God, I love this caf. I wish they had

places like this in the U.S.

Yeah, I missed cafs

when I was living over there.

I mean, I find a few places

I really liked, but there was...

- You were living in the U.S.?

- Yes, from '96 to '99.

I was studying at NYU.

Oh, God, don't tell me that, Celine.

- What?

- No, it's just...

- Nothing, I mean, I...

- What?

I've been living in New York since '98.

We were there at the same time.

- In New York?

- Yeah.

That's weird. It actually crossed my mind

a few times that I might run into you...

...but the odds are so slim, right? So...

I didn't even know

what city you were in.

- Weren't you somewhere in Texas?

- Yeah, yeah, definitely. I just...

I was for a long time. I just,

you know, wanted to try New York.

What brought you back here?

I had finished my master's, for one...

...and no visa, no more visa.

And I was starting to get paranoid.

All the violence in the medias:

Gang violence, murders,

especially serial killers...

But the final straw was...

...one night I heard some noise

on my fire escape...

...so I called 9,

and the cops came eventually.

- Like three hours later.

- Yeah, after I had been raped and killed.

No, but it was a man

and a woman officer.

I was explaining what I had heard...

...when the woman had

to go move the police car.

I was left alone with the male cop.

Right away he asked me if I had a gun,

and I said, "No, of course not. "

And he told me, "Well, you better

think about getting one.

This is America, not France. Okay?"

And I said to him, "I have no idea

how to shoot a gun...

...and I have no interest

in firearms whatsoever. "

And that's when he pulled out his gun,

like this, and he went:

"Well, one day, you're gonna have

something like this in your face...

...and if you wanna have a long life...

...you're gonna have to choose

between you or them. "

And then they left. And the next morning

I called for an application to get a gun.

Me with a gun.

I mean, that's really scary.

But then I realized

something was wrong.

The way that cop had pulled his gun out,

and everything, right?

So I canceled my demand

for the gun...

...and I called the police and tried

to complain about that cop.

- What happened with that?

- It was so much paperwork...

...and then I got scared,

with my shitty student visa...

- Thought you'd get deported?

- Exactly. I gave up...

...and forgot about the whole thing.

- Well, I guess I never forgot.

- Obviously.

But still, you know,

I really enjoyed being there.

- There's lots of things I miss in the U.S.

- Yeah? Like what?

Well...

The overall good mood

people have there.

Like, even if it can be

bullshit sometimes.

Like, "How you doing?" "Great. "

"How you doing?" "Great!"

"Have a great day!"

I don't know. Parisians can be

so grumpy. Have you noticed?

No, everybody seems

pretty happy to me.

- They're not happy. No.

- They're not happy?

No, they are. I don't know. I just

mean French men. They drive me nuts.

What is it? What about them?

Well, they're very nice.

They're great, you know, to be around.

They love food, wine,

they're great cooks.

But I've had really bad luck with them.

Why? What do you mean?

- Well, I guess they're not as...

- What?

What's the word?

- Horny? They're not as horny.

- Horny?

Wait, listen to me on this one. In that

regard, I am proud to be an American.

And you should be.

In that regard only.

Have you ever spent time

in Eastern Europe?

Eastern... No, I don't.

Thank you.

I remember as a teenager

I went to Warsaw...

...when it was still

a strict communist regime.

- Which I don't approve of at all.

- Sure you don't.

- No, I don't.

- I'm just kidding.

But anyway, something about

being there was very interesting.

After a couple of weeks,

something changed in me.

The city was quite gloomy and gray...

...but after a while,

my brain seemed clearer.

I was writing more

in my journal...

...ideas I'd never thought of before...

- Communist ideas?

- Listen, I'm not...

- I'm sorry, I...

- Okay.

- Go on.

Okay. I'll send you to a gulag later.

No. But it took me a while to figure out

why I felt so different.

One day, as I was walking

through the Jewish cemetery...

...I don't know why,

but it occurred to me there...

...I realized that I had spent the last

two weeks away from most of my habits.

TV was in a language

I didn't understand...

...there was nothing to buy,

no advertisements anywhere...

...so all I'd been doing was...

...walk around, think, and write.

My brain felt like it was at rest...

...free from the consuming frenzy.

It was almost like a natural high.

I felt so peaceful inside.

No strange urge to be somewhere else...

...to shop...

It could have seemed

like boredom at first...

...but it became very, very soulful.

It was interesting, you know?

Can you believe it was nine years ago

we were walking around Vienna?

- Nine years? No, that's impossible.

- No, it was. It feels like two months.

But it was summer '94.

Do I look any different?

I do?

I'd have to see you naked.

- What?

- I know, I'm sorry.

Your hair was different back then.

It was like...

- It's the same... Oh, down.

- Yeah, take it down.

Down. Okay, it was down. Okay.

Well? Voil.

So?

Okay, come on. Tell me.

Skinnier, I think. A little thinner.

Did you think I was fat before?

- No...

- Yeah, you thought I was a fatty.

No, you thought I was a fatty. You

wrote a book about a fat French girl.

- No, listen.

- Oh, no.

Seriously, all right? You look beautiful.

Do I look any different?

No. Not at all.

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