Cosa Raccomanda Lei?

This film is a little gem. It features some of the most stylish production design I've seen in an animated short. It's difficult to tell whether the characters and sets are models or CG - which means the animation has either been computer generated and made to look like stop frame or is very slick modelling and puppet animation.

And a witty, well told story too. Our hero - a loner middle aged English guy - is excited about his trip to Rome. When he loses his Italian phrase book five minutes into his holiday, he tries to wing it with his one phrase of Italian: Cosa Raccomanda Lei? which means What would you recommend? Things soon begin to unravel.

The music score feels period and is subtly used; the photographic backdrops blend well with the animated elements; the performances, particularly of the legendary Victor Spinetti (Hard Day's Night) and Nanette Newman are well cast and strongly performed.

Well produced, well written, well designed, well directed.

I know this film is a few years' old but I just came across it and I think it deserves a review.

The film is no longer than a pop song but packs a whole lot of story into that time, chronicling the adventures of a British tourist in Italy who knows only one phrase of the language. A series of misunderstandings ensues, at first seeming to work to the advantage of our hapless hero but can it last?

The film is animated (it looks like a mixture of puppets and drawings?) and the animation is spot-on: it sets the atmosphere and instantly creates a sense of character.

And to add a bit of class, the film features the voices of Victor Spinetti and Nanette Newman.

It is very funny, and also slightly excruciating if you've ever tried to overplay your couple of phrases of a foreign language.

All in all, a perfectly packaged black and white injection of humour to brighten up any day.

Shown as part of the 2006 short films from the Animator in Residence scheme is "What Would Your Recommend", or at least in English it is. It is the story of a British traveller who sets out on holiday to Italy with one phrase under his belt but a real reliance on his phrase book to get by. However when he loses his book just outside the airport, his overuse of the phrase he knows ("cosa raccomanda lei?") sees him getting into trouble.

Usually with these short films I end up having to pull credits off the screen, search the internet and enter all the data onto this site before I can review it but in this case it seems that Ketchell himself has beaten me to it. Some might see this as a bit of an ego trip but personally I see it as perfectly reasonable because the film is very enjoyable and deserves what promotion it can get. The set-up is simple but the way that the script gets our man into trouble bit by bit is amusing, right up to the punch line (which is of course the title yet again). It is witty and amusing and I quite enjoyed the way it made the film out of one common and simple theme of foreigners abroad pretending they get the language when they really don't.

The animation is also very cool. Imaginatively shaped characters work within backgrounds and sets that are minimal but yet work really well within the film. I'm not sure if it is computer generated or a mix of techniques but I found it very cool and easy to enjoy, matching the wit of the film. I normally gush about the style of the Blackwatch-produced shorts and in a way the animation here featured many of the same strengths as those from that very strong stable. As writer and director Ketchell deserves credit for this because he has produced a great little three minute film.

Funny, cool, imaginative, well put together and with a solid punch-line, this is an entertaining piece of animation that is worthy of the primetime slot that channel 4 gave it in the UK.