Tuesday, December 14, 2010

APRICOT : Do You Remember Your First Love?




Do you remember your first love?

Do you ..

Well. I think, I do.

The opening paragraph of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's splendidly beautiful novel Love In The Time Of Cholera starts like this ~

It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.

The aroma of not-so-ripened guavas always remind me of my fancy for love during my adolescence. It was a time when fairy tales were real, when innocence ruled the heart and when the clear blue sky blessed you with its beatific smile. My first puppy love was a Teacher in the primary. I was in my fifth grade then. My maiden angel descended from heaven and smiled at me. She had just joined the school. She might have completed her college then and would have been appointed by the strict headmaster to teach the kindergarden. Wearing those playful strands of white jasmine flowers on her long plait, she was spreading an ebullient mirth in the air which was fragrant all around her. She had that mesmeric wheatish complexion, which overwhelmd my infatuation. Calf love can have no bounds for its illusions. I was too sure that she took a liking to me. For there was a glow in her face whenever she glimpsed at me. I believed that her eyes became more expressive and her smile more enlivening at my very sight. All I needed was just an affirmation of my love. During those days, as were their wont, my Gods kept on conspiring against me. Until one day, they finally relented.

It was a fine morning. One such morning when you are happy enough to be born on this Earth. And feel elated for having been gifted with those eyes, which can observe the sun gleaming on the dew drop atop a blade of grass. Morning prayer was routinely going on in the school ground. Standing in their respective queues of classes, with eyes closed, everyone was parroting those lines uttered in feigned solemnity. It was the first and the last time when I had ever prayed at school. That if I open my eyes and look at the Teacher, she should do the same. My heart was pounding and my eyes were hesitantly twitching to open. I gathered my wits and slowly unlocked my eyelids. And looked at her. My Gods answered the call by opening the gates of heaven. She had not only looked at me, but also gave that soulful smile. It was an eternal glimpse that would remain etched in my memory. My first love was thus validated in heaven. But like some of those sad fairy tales, this too ended abruptly. Before any further progress, she stopped coming to school. There was a talk in the school that she was going to get married. Her moronic parents had arranged a dimwit groom and cursed my love into oblivion. My flight of fancy overcame its dismay by consoling itself that afterall it was an arranged marriage forced upon her. For I did not have any iota of doubt that if at all she was given the choice of her love, she would have definitely chosen me!

Apricot is an independant short film directed by Ben Briand. In a short span of about ten minutes, this film transports the viewer into a nostalgic trip of one's personal universe. A chance encounter with a stranger occurs for a girl with a guy. They sit and talk over coffee in a hotel. He feels intuitively connected to her. And wants to know more of her. He probes her about her first love. She prompts him back to tell about his, for which he says he was not able to remember. However, she asks him to recollect and narrate when his turn comes and goes down in her memory lane. A poetic flashback with a reverberating soundtrack follows. The conversation gets a little more personal and a rich tapestry of human emotions get woven to evolve into a relationship between them. This wonderful short film has a fabulous story telling style with the hand-held camera capturing all the myriad hues and colours expressed by  two human faces. Apricot is an amazing work of cinematic art made in the genre of short films, which is an interesting domain of experimentation for those who do not want to get compromised with the commercial compulsions of mainstream feature film oriented cinema. The artistic beauty of Apricot lies in the way in which it captures not only how the human mind recreates its past memory but also how it encounters the present much more mysteriously.


9 comments:

  1. Commendable. I've never seen such a beautiful short film or read a moving write-up on childhood love. The short film make my eyes watery.

    The narration of your childhood experience stirs up lot of my past memories. In fact, i'm not getting proper sleep since last night after reading your blog. It has disturbed me. Positively though!

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  2. Great. I liked the music. First kiss subtly shown was great.

    My experience of first love....

    I was enjoying the summer holidays...wayback in 81. I went to school along with my mother as there was no work. I just slept in the school itself around 1200 noon. Someone woke me up. When I woke up, I was surprised to see my girl standing in front of me. That was a great moment. Then I enjoyed the every moment going around, showing the places in the village, taking food together, (sitting nearby), sleeping in a small room, where my girl is sleeping just nearby... Great moments....Kamal.

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  3. Absolutely stunning. The way woman in the short film has unleashed her charms, no wonder the boy feels like taking notes. I have seen the 10 min. preview quite a number of times and every time it's a breath of fresh air. Excellent piece.

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  4. red earth and pouring rainDecember 29, 2010 at 2:33 PM

    the actress is beautiful especially the acting. I felt that the mysterious aspect of boy could been more sharper or could have been developed further. This short film remined me of 'Before Sunrise'(english film), which is a beautiful take on chance encounter among two youngsters and their journey of self discovery in the night streets of Vienna and encounter with the significant other.

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  5. Very good video. Nice write-up. Keep it up sir.

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  6. U'r first love was very interesting to read. The way U've
    loved the teacher and the expressing lines are lovely. I have read this
    3 more times. Another one has now been added in my favourites. And no wonder,
    she would have definitely choosen u. Your sharing things in u'r blog is always
    relishing. I think all u'r beloved friends can remember their first love after
    reading u'rs.

    Apricot is a beautiful short flim and it is absolutely stunning like
    pankaj said. And U'r writng about that video is enlightening.

    Nice posting!

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  7. Interesting post! Thanks for posting such a well made film. Such a beautiful actress too!

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  8. very nice&cute short film.I absolutely loved this beautiful Apricot.script,acting& dialogue are so good..
    your first love was... so innocent..

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  9. What an amazing way to introduce the blog about first love.. The beautiful moving short film 'Apricot' with it's haunting music (reverberating - you are right) and wonderfully played central characters gives an astounding experience which many of our 3 hour long movies fail to. The way emotions get expressed by both the central characters are absolutely delightful. While the girl definitely scores high in the way she seamlessly slips in and out of her reverie and expresses her suspicion and sudden understanding towards the end, I felt attracted to the male's character where apprehension, genuineness and helplessness get expressed subtly yet beautifully.. It is really fascinating to know how a film of such a short duration can captivate you deep into it..

    Hope the Blogger keeps posting us such interesting movies..

    And, as if the movie was not bewitching enough the blogger brings out his story of first love in a cute and playful way- both complementing each other beautifully. The innocence of first love and the crush on his beautiful teacher have come out so very well that you read along with playful mirth.

    On the whole a beautiful experience..

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