A man and a woman meet up in a restaurant at night for what seems like an innocent rendezvous in Alessio Cappelletti’s short film The Date. Check out our review, right here.
Shot over the course of just one night, Cappelletti’s latest short film is a seriously well-crafted piece of work. You cannot tell that The Date was shot with little to no money, a skeleton crew and time constraints. It looks great, it sounds great and it is performed great. These are the hallmarks of a talented team, coming together to create something they can be proud of. Excuses for not making films can be heard all over the world “I haven’t got enough money”, “I won’t do it unless we shoot on an Arri”, “It’s going to be too difficult”. It really is fantastic to see a group of people using what they have at their disposal in order to further themselves and simply get creative.
The Date only comes in at just over 6 minutes in length and I don’t want to spoil anything for any potential viewers out there, so I shall only touch upon the plot.
The short opens with Vernon (Michael Gonza) sat in a restaurant, seemingly waiting for someone whilst playing with his food. He is then joined by a woman (Marybeth Paul) who sits at his table. Vernon is surprised at first but soon offers the lady a drink. The offer is declined, with the woman stating that she doesn’t drink whilst she is working. Whilst her line of work isn’t actually stated, our minds automatically head towards the idea of her being an escort or prostitute.
After a brief chat regarding Vernon’s job as a computer programmer and an exchange of money, they both part ways, leading to a conclusion that sideswiped me out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting the ending and that is a sure sign of both good writing and good direction.
As stated above, The Date is pristinely lensed for such a low budget, one-night shot. Props need to go to the director of photography James Woodbury. The grading works very well too. The score, which definitely takes influence from the synth movement of the 1980s goes well with the visuals and, according to director Alessio Cappelletti, it was scored by a first-timer in Patrick O’Donnell. It really does sound like it was composed by someone with a lot of experience.
The Date is a well-made film that is even more impressive when taking in the constraints the team had. It’s certainly recommended.
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