1000 Tiny Birds

Le Pupille (2022)

2023-02-21

On we continue with our short films. Today, Le Pupille, a charmingly sweet short from Italy. Set over Christmas in an all girls’ Catholic boarding school, Le Pupille follows the young girls as they butt up against the authoritarian figure of the mother superior. It’s a wonderful little thing, relishing in the youthful fervour of rebellion, the freedom of being told that you’re sinful and - well if that’s the case, you might as well enjoy it. The girls are told off for singing about kissing, and not making their bed, and at one point there’s a heist involving a Zuppa Inglese. The whole thing is suffused with an almost Wes Anderson level of devotion to fussiness and pastels, but it works! It is as playful as the girls themselves, formally daring at times and has a restless energy to it that feels of a whole with the theme of the piece. I don’t know how well it will do at the Oscars, having not weighed up the competition, but the natural worry is that a 40 minute Italian short (albeit also existing in dubbed form on Disney+) might not push through in the same way. If it doesn’t, well, we can be content that this still exists for those Disney+ subscribers to hopefully stumble upon either way.