Daily Dialogue — November 25, 2015
HOMELESS POET (in English): I’d like to make a deal with you guys. Instead of just asking for money, I’ll ask you for a word. I will then write a poem in which that word will be used. I’ll write it in English. If you like it, if you feel it adds something to your life in any way, then you can pay me whatever you feel like.
CELINE AND JESSE: Okay, it’s a deal.
HOMELESS POET: Pick a word.
JESSE: Uhh… (to Celine) What word?
CELINE: Milk shake.
Jesse flashes her a look.
JESSE I was going to say “rooster prick.” But perfect, of course, milk shake.
The poet walks off a ways and starts writing.
(Celine and Jesse goes on talking and arguing, almost 1.5 pages in the screenplay)
HOMELESS POET: I have your poem.
CELINE: Will you read it to us?
HOMELESS POET: Sure. (reads poem) Daydream delusion. Limousine Eyelash. Oh, baby with your pretty face. Drop a tear in my wine glass. Look at those big eyes. See what you mean to me. Sweet cakes and milkshakes . I am a delusion 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. Lodged in life . Like two branches in a 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? Don’t you know me by now?
They are both silent.
CELINE: Wow…
They give him some money.
JESSE: Thanks, man. Good luck.
CELINE: It’s beautiful, no?
JESSE: Yeah, that was beautiful. You know, he didn’t just write that poem…I’m not saying he didn’t write that poem. He just didn’t write it tonight. He just plugged in that milk shake.
CELINE: What do you mean?
JESSE: Nothing. It’s a nice poem.
— Before Sunrise (1995), written by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan, poem by David Jewell
The Daily Dialogue theme for the month: Writers and Writing. Today’s suggestion by Katha.
Trivia: The idea for the movie came from a night Richard Linklater spent walking around Philadelphia with Amy, a woman he met. Contrary to the movie, they stayed in touch for a while, until contact was lost. Linklater never heard from her again, not even when he became a director and “Before Sunrise“ was released. It was not for many years later that he found out that Amy had died in a traffic accident a few years after they had met.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Katha: “We see a writer at work and the output quite immediately, those beautiful and sad words about love and understanding each other, things which both protagonists are searching for.
Jesse tries to impress Celine with intellectual stuff — but this poem truly impresses her. His comment expresses his irony and his jealousy but not just because of the girl. He is struggling for words and for giving his words meaning. If somebody handles words that easily and quickly and adds something to other‘s lives then it seems to be a slap in the face for Jesse and his trying to be an artist.
Is it a slap in the face for every artist struggling? I suppose every writer wants to have this moments where we add something to people‘s lives. And some achieve this more easily than others but it‘s great to see that somebody achieve.
And when Jesse‘s criticize that the poet has cheated he misunderstands the process of writing: Even if the poet took parts of his work to build up the poem, any artist could just work on the basis of his life and his experience in art.”