September 12.

  Nightclub Arena, a loud music club, on stage there's a guy pying guitar. e steps out of her role and surprises him with a whispered greeting about his first cert. Iingly, in the wenty minutes, something surprising happens, previously arranged. About 500 schillings were spent to recreate the se from the day before, along with another 700 schillings to persuade the bar owner, and another 200 schillings to allow filming.

  Filmmaker LIZ takes the microphone and sits on stage in front of the s. She has a piece of paper in hand and signals to the projeist to start. The room darkens, and the movie begins. Behind the initial bd white Super 8 images is the scratched white title in German: A CLASS OF NOISE AND A CLASS OF SILEhe film sists of images of fairly ret events (1985-1994), bands pying, disasters, and televised images. Interspersed throughout are a series of uling images of solitary individuals, some looking at the camera, others into the distahe film evokes a mencholid almost romantieliness. She speaks in German, and we read subtitles.

  -Our critique began, as all critiques do, with doubt... Doubt became our life. Ours was the quest for a ory, our own, and we g to this ory, driven by the Dadaist suspi that ordinary nguage could not tell it. Our past seemed frozen in the distance, and each of estures and ats expressed the denial of an old world and the desire for a new o was about the discovery of true unication, or at least the quest for suunication, the adventure of finding it and losing it... We kept looking, the dissatisfied and the nonists, below, outside, scattered, unig only with a passing gnce, but still knowing that no matter how empty the world might seem, no matter how degraded and exhausted it seemed, everything ossible - says Liz, the filmmaker.

  Both e and Jesse, at the Arena bar, see the projector starting to repy the movie again. They move to the drinks area, which has many tables. Due to the hour, it's full, and they spot ay video game mae. There, they find an unoccupied mae, which Jesse heads to almost hypnotized by how he ignores e.

  They take turns pying pinball.

  -Julie whispers in his ear. Do you want to bet I beat you in two rounds? You know the wager. - Richard, who is a few meters away, 't hear them; the microphones don't work due to the background musi the venue, only the one held by an assistant.

  -So, we haven't even talked about this, but are you seeing anyone? Do you have a boyfriend waiting for you in Paris or something? - says e.

  -No, no, not now... - says e.

  -You did, - said Jesse.

  -We broke up six months ago, - said e.

  -Sorry. I mean, not sorry, but tell me about it, - responds Billy/Jesse, watg Julie py with a gesture that every time she's focused, widens her eyes and juts her lips out.

  -No, no, it's b. I 't, - says e.

  -e on, e on, - says Jesse.

  Backstage, Gwyh arrives, wearing a khaki-colored jacket that reaches below her knees, blue boots, bck skinny jeans, and a white cropped shirt, along with a belly pierg.

  -I felt disappointed. I thought this would st. - Julie sighed as she lost a ball in the pinball mae. - He was so stupid, ugly, bad in bed, an alcoholic... I was doing him a favor. But he left saying I loved him too mud that I was blog his artistic expression. I was traumatized and obsessed with him. I went to see a psychiatrist, and it turned out I had written these little stories about how I was going to kill him, all the intricate details of how I would do it and not get caught. -

  -Kill him? - Jesse asked.

  Billy's view and Jesse's curiosity were intriguing. He realizes that Jesse/Billy is looking at her a bit strangely.

  -Oh no, it's nothing I would ever do; I think it was just writing, - said e.

  -I uand, - Jesse responded.

  -Anyway, the stupid psychiatrist believed everything I was telling her. She said I had to call the police. She was vinced I was going to do it, even though I told her it was just my way of dealing with it. She said, looking deep into my eyes, 'From the way you said it, I know yoing to do it.' That was my first and st session. I got over it pletely, but now I'm obsessed that he's going to die in an act, maybe a thousand kilometers away, and I'll be accused, -e replied.

  Without ing the form, iently responding to a dominant attitude.

  Julie keeps pying, losi life,

  -Why do you obsess over people who don't matter to you? And what about you? Are you with someone? - asks e.

  -It's funny how we avoided this question for so long, - Jesse said.

  -I know, but now you have to say it. Seems like you just got hurt. By me, - said e.

  -I don't know. Love is like this escape for people who haven't learo be alone or do something for themselves. People think love is something selfless and pletely generous. But if you think about it, it's probably one of the most selfish things, - said Jesse.

  -So, who just broke up with you? - said e.

  -What? -questioned Jesse.

  -You seem like someone who just got hurt, - said e.

  -Okay... big fession. I didn't want to say it! I feel responsible. I'll tell you something... So, who just broke up with you? I didn't e to Europe just to find myself and read Hemingway in Paris and stuff like that. I worked all spring saving moo fly to Madrid and spend the summer with my girlfriend, - Jesse pauses with full identity, at Julie's gesture, grabbing his hips - my ex-girlfriend, who's been in this stupid art history program for the past year. But I got here, and on our first night, finally reunited, we went out to dinner with five of her friends: Gonzalo, Pedro, María, Antonio, and Suzie from home. She pretty much avoided being aloh me the first few days I was there, but I stayed a while to let her realize she wished I hadn't e. So, I got the cheapest charter flight out of Europe, leaving from Vienna tomorrow, but I had a couple of weeks off, so I bought a Eurail pass, - said Jesse.

  -You know what's the worst thing about someone breaking up with you? Remembering how little you thought about the people you broke up with and realizing how little they think about you. You like to think you're both suffering a lot, but really, they're relieved you're no lohere, - said Jesse.

  They had been rec for almost an hour.

  -Well, you should look at bright colors, - said e, jokingly, as she took trol of the pinball mae agaiermio beat the 290,000 points Billy scored a moment ago.

  -That's... - Jesse asked, perplexed.

  -That's what that psychiatrist told me. I aying nine hundred fran hour to find out I was a homicidal maniac, but maybe I could ge my obsession if I focused ht colors, - said e.

  -Did it work? - said Jesse.

  -I haven't killed him yet, - said e.

  This caused Julie to burst into ughter at Billy's rea.

  [an excmation point]

  -Cut. -

  ...

  -Damn, such a long se, I thought it would st a lifetime. It's eleven thirty, there's a st category bar, closes at 2, we go in, have a drink, then go to the hotel, get enough rest, - said Julie.

  -Julie, I won't go, and I hope you know I have to go to the hotel - said Billy, firmly closing the discussion.

  Gwyh arrived, giving Julie a French kiss hello, both were happy to see each other, whispering about something.

  -Good day, Gwyh. Your arrival is surprising, - said Billy.

  -That's what I'm here for. To surprise people, - said Gwyh.

  Going to a table in the bar, both were apanied by a beer.

  Both girls were happy, but something inside Billy stirred, two beautiful white girls walking the streets of Vienna, probably intoxicated, in an unpleasant way. Billy didn't want them to go and something bad happened. Director Richard would start doing many things, like reviewing the eape, the assistant would help the director even so, Julie wouldn't invite him, and the photographer, soundman, and lighting guy in harsh words were married.

  -I'll apany you, - said Billy.

  -I'm not sure we want you to apany us now, - said Julie.

  Billy felt like thinking, was it possible for them to ge their minds ihan 5 minutes? Why does everything have to be so plicated?

  -Then I'm out, - said Billy.

  Good iions are always taken franted, he will sit in his room sleeping until six in the m and then make basic drawings.

  -Hahaha, see, he has the humor of dogs, he needs a lot of love, he's desperate, and I think if we don't indulge him, he might have a heart attack with all the anger he holds in his heart, - said Julie, out loud, knowing that it annoyed Billy to be treated like someone who ignored him.

  Both approached Billy and hugged him tightly, with enough force so that he couldn't let go at the right moment to beg Billy to take them dang ten blocks down in the bar area.

  ...