When the songbird sings

Here’s one of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies, Before Sunrise. As everyone knows by now, the film, directed by Richard Linklater, is about a day in the life of the American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and the French student, Celine (Julie Delphy), who met on a train in Europe. When they reached Vienna, Jesse convinces the Paris-bound Celine to join him in looking around the city while waiting for his flight back to the States. While in Vienna, they visited various tourist spots, cafes, bars, monuments, a cemetery, a carnival and a music booth where they listened to a Kath Bloom vinyl record. The next morning finds them at the train station where they promised to meet again after six months. Celine takes the train to Paris and Jesse heads back to the US.

Memorable Quotes:

Celine:

If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it’s almost impossible to succeed but who cares, really? The answer must be in the attempt.

Jesse:

Alright, alright, think of it like this: jump ahead ten, twenty years, okay? And you’re married. Only your marriage doesn’t have that same energy that it used to have, you know? You start to blame your husband. You start to think of all those guys you met in your life and what might have happened if you’d picked up with one of them, right? Well I’m one of those guys, that’s me! So think of this as time travel. From then to now to find out what you’re missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favor 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 you made the right choice and you’re really happy.