Le Pupille (translation The Pupil), is a 2022 Italian short film developed for Disney+. The short is directed, written by, and stars Alba Rohrwacher.
This is the first in a trilogy of holiday shorts produced by Alfonso Cuarón. It was followed by The Shepherd and An Almost Christmas Story.
Synopsis[]
Follow the rebellious girls of a Catholic boarding school before Christmas, a time of war and scarcity.
Plot[]
Set presumably during WWII around Christmas time in an unidentified city in Italy, a Catholic sect of nuns watch over orphan girls and adhere them to strict rulings. On Christmas Eve, the nuns prepare the girls for a recreation of the nativity so as to collect offerings for them. The girls are seen singing a song about the events that are about to unfold and that it is "mostly true".
In the afternoon, the nuns leave the radio on to play reports of the war. While picking up a prop from the floor, little Serafina accidentally changes the radio so that it plays "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina)", considered racy for the time. As the girls dance to the song, Mother Superior Fioralba is furious and has them all wash their mouths out with soap. Despite the fact that Serafina did not sing with the rest of the girls, Fioralba considers her the most "wicked" as she still remembers the lyrics to the song and hides them in her head.
At midnight, the girls put on their Nativity play, though they simply just stand there, while the nuns take the offerings. A well-dressed woman, identified as Rosa in the credits, offers up a cake called Zuppa Inglese (English Soup, but translated to English Pie) which she claims took 70 eggs to make. She asks that they pray for her husband, whom she believes is seeing another woman regardless, as she had earlier tried to ask the orphan girls earlier that day.
On Christmas morning, the girls all sit to have lunch and Fioralba has the girls served pasta and pears. She unveils the cake to the girls, but tells them that since they are good they will give up their piece to the bishop, with her plan being to offer it to him as a gift. All the girls stand except Serafina who reminds Fioralba that she is "wicked" and not good. Caught in her own hypocrisy, Fioralba cuts a slice for Serafina who takes a handful of it and tosses it on the floor for a stray dog that came in. Fioralba angrily sends the girls away.
Soon after, a chimney sweeper named Goffredo enters, having finished cleaning, and reminds Fioralba that he is to be paid. She is unable to pay him in full and gives him a fifth of what he is owed along with the cake, with him calling her a "Scrooge". Nevertheless, his fellow sweepers are happy with the gift and it is revealed that Serafina saved some of the cake to share with the other girls. Goffredo carries the cake into town, but falls and crushes it. The sweepers laugh and proceed to eat it off the ground. The girls return to sing the moral, which they admit that there is none.
Cast[]
- Alba Rohrwacher as Mother Superior Fioralba
- Greta Zuccheri Montanari as Sister Paoletta
- Carmen Pommella as Sister Caterina
- Lady Maru as Sister Carmela
- Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as Rosa L'innamorata (Pink the Sweetheart)
- Luciano Vergaro as Goffredo
- Sofia as The Little Dog
The Orphans[]
- Melissa Falasconi as Serafina
- Febe Sapia as Teresa
- Francesca Uccelli as Fernanda
- Mila Bugané as Flora
- Maria Renata Corelli as Renata
- Olivia Ascari as Olga
- Alma Palmas as Giulietta
- Margherita Righi as Agostina
- Sofia Bendya as Maria
- Miriam Forcella as Elvira
- Heidi Viola as Alida
- Dalia Tonioli as Ermenegilda
- Margherita Greco as Margherita
- Matilde Jacchia as Rodolfa
- Lavinia Tassi as Lavinia
- Olimpia Tassi as Olimpia
- Eugenia Tassi as Gesú Bambina
- Maria Luisa Briguglia as Marilú
- Nora Luce Briguglia as Nora
- Carla Briguglia as Carla
- Anna La Barbera as Bambina fedele
- Anita Crucitti as Servetta
Song[]
- "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina)" by Alberto Rabagliati
Trivia[]
- This short introduces a new Disney logo that is neither the 2011 one or the 2022 one. Instead, it simply displays the name Disney on a dark ethereal background.
Video[]
