You have to wonder what there is from this short film were it not for the novelty of Wes Anderson directing and Jason Schwartzman starring. The film, funded by Prada as part of a campaign, sees a motor race passing through a small Italian village with the villagers temporarily behind a bale of straw as cars race through. The main pack come and go in a blink but shortly behind is another car, which crashes into the statue in the central square. The American driver gets out to seek support but discovers that he is more connected to the people and the place than he knows.
There is a bigger story here perhaps but as it is this short is very light on detail. There is a certain amount of style and interest in some of the links to this bigger picture (the race, the character, the connection, the phone call) but generally there is little else to really take away. Prada don't seem to get more than their name on the credits and on the back of Jed's jacket but I guess for them this film is more about them being associated with the hottest directors and stars rather than making a traditional advert – in an industry where appearance is everything, it is the names and association they care about. I guess I should be grateful that at least Anderson brings his usual oddball style to the film but with so little time and detail it is hard to do much with it and indeed he doesn't.
He does direct like there was more and Schwartzman also delivers in the same vein, but still, there only is what there is and that is not too much. It has a nice feel and Anderson fans will appreciate his style and tone, but for me there was not much here to work with beyond the novelty of seeing and expensive collaboration with novelty value – Prada appreciates the association, Anderson appreciates the money and freedom but the viewers are down the list of priorities.
