Apricot
2009 · 11m · Australia
Directed by Ben Briand
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
A young couple on an early restaurant date exchange memories of first loves and first kisses; as the conversation deepens, it becomes apparent that one of them has a hidden motivation for revisiting these particular memories.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Briand's Apricot won the Vimeo Community Choice Award for Best Narrative and stands firmly in the Australian realist short tradition — the two-hander conversation film here achieves genuine emotional precision through the slow revelation of hidden dramatic stakes.
"Voted Best Narrative Film on Vimeo" — there it is. Before Sunrise on a first date with a hidden agenda revealed through nostalgic detail. The form-against-itself description is genuinely promising. I'll grant Briand the benefit; conversation films live or die on the actors, and Adam Arkapaw shot it.
A restaurant date built around shared memories of first kisses — Ben Briand letting hidden dramatic information arrive through accumulation rather than revelation. Best Narrative on Vimeo at the time, and Adam Arkapaw shooting it doesn't hurt.
Reviews
A film for the dreamers, A film for the romantics and in my opinion a film for film lovers.