The Lunch Date

"The Lunch Date" is a short film. An elderly woman walking fast at a terminal bumps into a black man, her belongings scattered on the floor. He tries to pick them up, but she refuses. When she reaches the platform, the train she was supposed to take has just left. When she turns back, she also notices that her handbag is missing. She kills time in a cafeteria and sits down to eat a salad. She notices that she has no cutlery, so she takes a fork from the counter. When she returns to her seat, she sees a black man eating the salad. I thought the film was satirising society at the time. This film implies the stereotype that people have.

This is an amazing must see short film by what I consider a brilliant screenwriter/director. I first viewed "The Lunch Date" while taking a cross cultural counseling class during my graduate program, and was simply amazed at the message that was conveyed in a matter of ten minutes. This is of course coming from a person who does not typically take the time to appreciate the true aesthetics of film making.

I love the way the story is told with minimal dialog between characters because it challenges first time viewers to decipher the plot and understand what message is being shared. The location setting, an underground subway station/shopping plaza provided me with a sense of nostalgia as I was raised in a city that had similar surroundings. The choppiness of the scenes and usage of black and white film also allowed me to appreciate the art of good film making. I had never really stopped to pinpoint what it takes to tell a story while being conscious of production techniques that assist the viewer to comprehend a message more effectively.

I would love to find this DVD Short for sale some where. If anyone is aware of where to find it, please direct me to a URL address. I work in the field of College Student Affairs, and would love to use this piece in one of my diversity training workshops.

This film is a story about a woman who misses a train and has lunch to kill some time. I think the interesting point of this film is that although there is no clear explanation, we can assume the characteristics of the woman by only watching the first 30 seconds of the film. There are two points which shows the characteristics of the woman in this film. Firstly, the woman dresses up shiwily, carrying many shopping bags in her hands. We can easily assume that the woman is rich. Secondly, when the woman cannons into a man and he tries to gather the strewn items of the purse, she coldly denies his help and leaves him quickly. She does not believe people easily. She may be a very suspicious person. Since this film is only ten minutes long, there is not enough time to explain the character's characteristics in detail. This film succeeds in depicting the least information about the main character possible to describe in such limited time.

This 10 minute short is nearly perfect film-making. It should be mandatory viewing in film classes everywhere.

"The Lunch Date" tells a complete and complex story, makes you feel keenly for the two central characters, has complications, twists, reversals and a wonderful resolution. It never strays from context and reality and is utterly accessible.

And it's all done with virtually no dialog.

I would love to be able to own and look at this film from time to time when I'm trying to convince myself -- against all available evidence -- that really GOOD movies can be made small and simply.

I hope that "The Lunch Date" will be made available in either DVD or video cassette very soon.

Larry Santoro Larry@LarrySantoro.com

I absolutely love this film. It really points out stereotypes that we all hold. I spent considerable time trying to locate a copy of this outstanding film. I finally found it on a DVD collection entitled Cinema 16: American Short Films. It has been well worth the search and the cost. I use it in my classroom to prompt discussions about stereotypes. I have my students watch it first from the point of view of the main character, the woman who has missed her train. I have them record their thoughts and perceptions from her point of view. I stop the film as she leaves the diner to catch her train. This is when I have my students share their thoughts. I then have them finish watching the story. Are they ever surprised! After this, I have them watch it from the perspective of the man eating the salad. After sharing their thoughts from his point of view, we discuss stereotypes. My students really enjoy this outstanding short story. The message contained in this short film is incredible.