Castello Cavalcanti


Castello Cavalcanti is a short film written and directed by Wes Anderson, released in 2013, and starring Jason Schwartzman as an unsuccessful race car driver who crashes his car in an Italian village. The 8-minute film was filmed at Cinecittà in Rome, Italy and financed by Prada. It debuted at the Rome Film Festival and was released online on November 13, 2013. It quickly became popular and received critical acclaim.

Plot

In a quiet Italian village in 1955, American Formula One driver Jed Cavalcanti, who is struggling in last place in a race through the countryside, crashes his car in the middle of the public square. Irritated with his situation, he abandons his car, blames the malfunctions on his brother-in-law, and waits for the next bus out of town, which is set to arrive in 20 minutes. However, after sharing a drink with the villagers, he discovers that he is in his ancestral homeland, "Castello Cavalcanti", and that several members of his company are his "ancestors". After a friendly phone call with his brother-in-law, he soon decides to skip the next bus and spend more time in town.

Allusions to Italian cinema

Anderson alludes to some classic Italian films in the short, including several by Federico Fellini, such as La Dolce Vita and Amarcord.