Wes Anderson Brings His Whimsy To Prada-Sponsored Short

Wes Anderson fans don’t have to wait until the release of The Grand Budapest Hotel to see new work from the acclaimed director. The filmmaker behind movies like The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom has created a seven-minute short, titled Castello Cavalcanti, for Prada’s YouTube channel.

Despite its comparatively short runtime, Castello Cavalcanti hits several squares on the Wes Anderson bingo card. Whimsical music? Check. Yellow titles? Naturally. Jason Schwartzman? Of course. The YTMAs host stars as a racecar driver who crashes his car in the titular Italian village.

It’s a short that, as with any Anderson project, is colorful and light and offbeat. Interestingly enough, it’s also almost entirely free of Prada product placement.

Anderson is not the first Hollywood big shot to team up with Prada. Last year, the upscale designer enlisted Roman Polanski to direct a short titled A Therapy. It stars Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley and has received 700,000 views. Castello Cavalcanti is on its way to topping that figure, so perhaps Prada hopes to raise brand awareness through share volume rather than blatant product placement.

For Anderson aficionados, Castello Cavalcanti is a treat, even if the sound is a little off-putting. Everyone else should know exactly what to expect from Anderson, but if you’re unfamiliar with his work, this short makes a nice taster course alongside his impressive oeuvre.