be expected to have lunch with
Okay. Now I'm gonna call my best friend in Paris, who I'm supposed to have lunch with in eight hours.before-sunrise-1995 · 1995 — Chapter 3 of 4 · 2'55" · B1
The Fake Phone Call in Vienna, Explained: fall for someone
In Vienna, she pretends to call her best friend in Paris, making the ringing sound herself and letting her companion answer as the friend. Under the joke, she admits she got off the train with a man she just met and names the exact moment: "I think that's when I fell for him."
What happens
In Vienna, a woman announces she is going to call her best friend in Paris about lunch in eight hours. She makes the ringing sound herself, tells her companion to pick up, and then performs the conversation. She admits she met a man on the train and got off with him, then describes when she fell for him.
Listen for
for laughscouldn't help itpass throughfall for someone
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Now
Phrase of the scene
fall for someone
start to love someone
She traces her feeling back to his ghost story in the lounge car and says that was when she fell for him.
You can fall for someone in a single afternoon.
Also in this scene
- for laughs
just for fun
- couldn't help it
could not stop oneself
- pass through
stay briefly on the way
- convince someone
persuade someone to do something
- scared to death
extremely frightened
Everything marked in this scene
26 notes across 47 lines
relative clause: The relative clause identifies the friend she is supposed to have lunch with.
Okay. Now I'm gonna call my best friend in Paris, who I'm supposed to have lunch with in eight hours.just for fun
After a few French greetings, she suggests talking in English and frames it as just for laughs; the reason she gives is that she has been working on her English.
I-I've been workin' on my English recently. You wanna talk in English? Just for laughs?be able to attend lunch
- Yeah, okay. That's a good idea. - (laughs) Um, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it for lunch today. I'm sorry.negative raising: The negation is felt in the following clause: I think I won't be able to make it.
- Yeah, okay. That's a good idea. - (laughs) Um, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it for lunch today. I'm sorry.meet a man on the train
I — I met a guy on the train, and I got off with him in Vienna.Let the final sound of off slide into with; keep him light.
I — I met a guy on the train, and I got off with him in Vienna.man; guy — Common in casual talk; use man in formal contexts.
I — I met a guy on the train, and I got off with him in Vienna.stay briefly while traveling
No, no, no, no. He's passing through here too. He's American.The d in Why'd is easy to lose; keep the question quick.
Why'd you get off the train with him?persuade someone to do something
Asked why she got off the train with him, she first says he convinced her; to convince someone is to persuade them, not force them.
Well, he convinced me.could not stop oneself
After describing how sweet he was, she uses I couldn't help it to explain getting off the train as something she could not resist.
He was so sweet, I couldn't help it.participial phrase: The participle phrase describes what the little boy was seeing.
and he begin to talk about him as a little boy seeing his great-grandmother's ghost.somewhat — A casual hedge; rare in formal writing.
He's kind of tall and he's a little clumsy.sense someone watching you
I like to feel his eyes on me when I look away.turn your eyes aside
I like to feel his eyes on me when I look away.Link the k sound into away instead of pausing between words.
I like to feel his eyes on me when I look away.as the night continued
As the night went on, I began to like him more and more.increasingly
As the night went on, I began to like him more and more.frightened by me
But I'm afraid he's scared of me.think of me that way
I just hope he doesn't feel that way about me.omitted relative pronoun: A relative pronoun is left out after person, so the clause reads more tightly.
The only person I could really hurt is myself.have a positive hunch
I've known you a long time, and I got a good feeling.In fast speech, the t in got a can tap and blend; keep it light.
I've known you a long time, and I got a good feeling.meet him again
You gonna see him again?have not discussed it yet
We haven't talked about that yet.The Fake Phone Call in Vienna, explained
What's really going on
The lunch is a pretext. By turning the call into a game—she supplies the ringing, he supplies the friend—the conversation lets her say things a normal conversation would make too direct. She keeps offering small evidence: "He was so sweet, I couldn't help it," then the ghost story, then "I think that's when I fell for him." When she worries that he now sees her as "this manipulative, mean woman," the joke stops being only a joke. The reply she gets—"I think he's crazy about you"—answers the fear she voiced, but not the question she leaves hanging: whether they will see each other again.
Theme
RomanceA pretend phone call lets two people talk about attraction at a safe distance, turning a private feeling into a shared joke.
TrustShe fears one story has changed how he sees her, and reassurance from the other end of the line cannot settle it.
Listen for
- off with him — Let the final sound of off slide into with; keep him light.
- Why'd you — The d in Why'd is easy to lose; keep the question quick.
- look away — Link the k sound into away instead of pausing between words.
- got a good — In fast speech, the t in got a can tap and blend; keep it light.
I like to feel his eyes on me when I look away.She likes the feeling of him watching her exactly when she is not looking, a small sign that his attention is on her.
As the night went on, I began to like him more and more.Her attraction grew gradually through the night rather than all at once; the line describes feelings that accumulate.
The only person I could really hurt is myself.She insists she is not a danger to others, only to herself, answering the fear that he now sees her as cruel.
I think that's when I fell for him.She names the precise moment her interest became attraction, and describes it as something that happened to her.
He was so sweet, I couldn't help it.She presents her decision as irresistible, crediting his sweetness instead of her own choice to get off the train.
Questions about this scene
Why does she cancel lunch with her friend?
In the pretend call she says she met a man on the train and got off with him in Vienna, so she will not be in Paris for lunch in eight hours.
Why does she switch to English during the call?
She says she has been working on her English and asks if they can talk in English, "just for laughs." The rest of the call stays in English.
Why did she get off the train with him?
She first says he convinced her, then admits she was ready to get off the train after talking with him a short while, and that he was so sweet she couldn't help it.
Why does she think he is scared of her, and what does the friend say?
She says she told him a story about a woman who kills her ex-boyfriend, so she assumes he sees her as manipulative and mean. The friend answers that he is not scared and is crazy about her.
What made her fall for him?
She says it happened in the lounge car, when he talked about himself as a little boy seeing his great-grandmother's ghost: "I think that's when I fell for him."
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