Comparing The Lunch Date 'And The Man Without A Head'

The Lunch Date, directed by Adam Davidson, and The Man Without a Head (L'homme sans tête), directed by Juan Diego Solanas, are two short films which demonstrate, to a certain extent, that social commentary not only criticises society, but provides insight into a composer’s point of view on social concerns. The main social concerns explored in The Lunch Date and The Man Without a Head are prejudice by society against the homeless and identity, respectively, which are supported by various techniques throughout each film, including cinematography, sound, and characterisation.

The Lunch Date, an American short film from the 1990s, not only criticises society and its prejudiced views towards homeless people but provides insight into the composer’s

This man proceeds to shout at the woman after she accuses him, frightening her and reaffirming the audience’s agreeance with her negative assumptions of the man. However, the film gradually contradicts these expectations through a series of back and forth mid level shots between the man and the woman as they share the salad and drink the coffee he has bought for her, revealing his true nature as that of someone who is polite and underlines the rapport he is attempting to establish with her. Davidson also includes several cuts back to the waiter in order to show his incredulous reactions towards the situation. He has then revealed to the audience that the woman was mistaken and had sat down at the wrong booth, as demonstrated by a series of mid level and full body tracking shots. By proving that the audience had made the same prejudiced judgements as the woman had, The Lunch Date shows society’s prejudiced view of the homeless and criticises it to a large extent by making the audience aware of their prejudice, including the unexpected twist of the woman’s mistake. The deliberateness of the woman’s and homeless person’s early characterisation also greatly provide insight into Davidson’s view of prejudice in society since this portrays his intentions and agreeance with the fact that society is prejudiced against homeless