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Before Sunrise · 1995 — Capítulo 17 de 21 · 2'25" · B1

Man Pretends to Call a Friend, Explained: be a ghost

A man plays a game and pretends to phone a friend, reporting a breakup and then a meeting. "I met somebody on my last night in Europe" lands like the real news, while the talk of wanting to be "a ghost, completely anonymous" says how badly the breakup hit him.

Qué pasa

A man takes his turn in a game and pretends to call his friend Frank. He reports that Madrid sucked, that he and Lisa had a "long-overdue meltdown," and that long-distance never works. He admits he didn't want to see anyone he knew, then says he met someone on his last night in Europe.

Phone callsBreakupsExplainingConfessingB1mediumamericanClean
IMDb ↗

Atento a

long-overdue meltdownbe a ghostrapturousBotticelli angel

00:00 / 02:25
Espacio reproducir · ← → frases · R repetir
Ahora
  10. ❝ MonólogoWanting to Disappear6 frasesPracticar ↗
  26. ❝ MonólogoFirst Impression Confession7 frasesPracticar ↗
Toca una frase para repetirla

Expresión de la escena

be a ghost

to disappear from everyone

After a breakup, someone says they want to be a ghost, meaning they want to vanish from everyone they know.

After the breakup, he wanted to be a ghost for a week.

También en esta escena

  • long-overdue meltdown

    a breakdown that was bound to happen

  • rapturous

    extremely delighted

  • Botticelli angel

    a comforting angel; a painting-like beauty

  • unsure of myself

    to lack confidence in yourself

  • That's the thing

    here's the key point

Todo lo marcado en esta escena

25 notas en 42 frases

Expresión · A1call someone

phone someone

Okay. It's your turn. You call your friend.
Expresión · B1get someone's answering machine

reach someone's voicemail

Um — Uh — Bring, bring, bring. I usually get this guy's answering machine. Brrring!
Jerga · A2dude

guy or mate — Friendly address between peers, not in formal settings.

Hi, dude. What's up?
Sonidohow ya been

In fast speech, how ya been can blur into one chunk; don't split each word.

- Uh — Hey, Frank, how ya been? - (laughing) Glad you're home.
Jerga · B1sucked

was terrible — Casual complaining only; avoid in formal writing.

Uh, Madrid sucked.
Expresión · B2long-overdue + noun

a breakdown that was bound to happen

In a pretend phone call, someone says Lisa and he had a long-overdue meltdown, half confessing and half joking that the relationship was bound to blow.

Uh, you know, Lisa and I had our long-overdue meltdown.
Expresión · B1the long-distance thing

the whole long-distance relationship thing refers to the relationship, not an object

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The long-distance thing just never works.
Expresión · A2tell someone why

explain the reason to someone

And I'll tell you why.
Gramática · B2how they say we're all each other's demons and angels

embedded clause: The how-clause introduces a saying, not a question about method.

And you know how they say we're all each other's demons and angels?
Sonidotellin' me

Keep the ending of tellin' light and slide straight into me.

Well, she was literally a Botticelli angel, just tellin' me that everything was gonna be okay.
Gramática · B1that started fighting

relative clause: The relative clause tells us which couple began arguing.

She was sittin' next to this very weird couple that started fighting, so she had to move.
Expresión · A2not like someone much

not be very fond of someone

And, uh, she didn't like me much at first.
Jerga · B1super-smart

extremely smart — Spoken praise among friends; avoid in interviews or documents.

She's super-smart, very passionate, um, and beautiful.
Expresión · B1unsure of oneself

to lack confidence in yourself

Recalling the conversation with the woman, he says he was "so unsure of myself" and thought everything he said sounded stupid.

And I was so unsure of myself.
Expresión · A2sound stupid

come across as foolish

I thought everything I said sounded so stupid.
Gramática · B1everything I said sounded so stupid

omitted that-clause: A that-clause is dropped after thought; everything I said is its subject.

I thought everything I said sounded so stupid.
Expresión · B1wouldn't worry about something

would not stress over that

Aw, man, I wouldn't worry about that.
Expresión · B1judge someone

form an opinion about someone

- Nah. - Nah, I'm sure she was not judging you.
Jerga · A2Nah

no — A casual no between friends; too loose for formal talk.

- Nah. - Nah, I'm sure she was not judging you.
Expresión · A2sit next to someone

take the seat beside someone

No. And by the way, she sat next to you, no?
Expresión · B1do something on purpose

deliberately, not by accident the line uses in purpose; the standard phrase is on purpose

- I'm sure she did it in purpose. - Oh, yeah?
Expresión · B1understand anything about + group

know nothing about a group

Us men are so stupid. We don't understand anything about women.
SonidoUs men are

Link us men are as one unit, without a gap before are.

Us men are so stupid. We don't understand anything about women.
Expresión · B1act kind of + adjective

behave a little oddly

They act kind of strange, the little I know of them.
Expresión · B2the little I know of something

as far as I know; from my limited knowledge

He ends on a self-deprecating note: the little I know of them refers to women, so the broad claim comes with a disclaimer.

They act kind of strange, the little I know of them.

Man Pretends to Call a Friend, explicado

What's really going on

The game lets him say things he might not say straight. He lists the breakup in flat, almost comic terms — "Lisa and I had our long-overdue meltdown" — then insists he is great, twice, before the real news: "I met somebody on my last night in Europe." The order matters. First comes the cheap flight out of Vienna and the wish to be "a ghost, completely anonymous," the voice of someone who wanted to disappear; only then comes the girl. The reply that she "did it in purpose" turns the confession into teasing about how little men understand women, and the pretend call ends on that joke.

Theme

HeartbreakHe reports a breakup and a new meeting in the same pretend call, so hurt and hope sit side by side.
Loneliness"I just wanted to be a ghost" says it plainly: after the split he wanted to vanish, not be seen.

Escucha con atención

  • how ya been — In fast speech, how ya been can blur into one chunk; don't split each word.
  • tellin' me — Keep the ending of tellin' light and slide straight into me.
  • Us men are — Link us men are as one unit, without a gap before are.
I just wanted to be a ghost, completely anonymous.

After the breakup he wanted to disappear from everyone who knew him, not be seen or recognized.

I met somebody on my last night in Europe. Can you believe that?

The headline of the pretend call: on his final night abroad he met someone, and he still sounds surprised by it.

Well, she was literally a Botticelli angel, just tellin' me that everything was gonna be okay.

He describes the woman as a painting-like angel whose reassurance made him feel everything would be fine.

Us men are so stupid. We don't understand anything about women.

A self-mocking line about men being clueless around women, after the teasing about where she sat.

Preguntas sobre esta escena

Why is he pretending to call Frank?

It's a game: one line sets it up with "It's your turn. You call your friend." He then plays the caller, even imitating an answering machine before saying hello.

Why didn't he want to go home?

He says he didn't want to see anybody he knew and "just wanted to be a ghost, completely anonymous."

How did he meet the woman?

On the train. She was sitting next to a couple that started fighting, had to move, and ended up across the aisle from him; then they started talking.

Was he confident when they first talked?

No. He says she "didn't like me much at first," he was "so unsure of myself," and thought everything he said "sounded so stupid."

What do the last lines say about men and women?

Lines near the end joke that men "don't understand anything about women" and that women "act kind of strange."

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