Locarno review: Randaghi (2025)
Pardi Di Domani
International Competition
Translated semi-directly from Italian, the word “randagi” means “strays”. For their newest animated short, which competes at Locarno as part of Pardi di domani selection, the brothers Enrico and Emanuele Motti use the localised, grammatically incorrect spelling Randaghi. It turns out, for a reason.
Nico (voiced by Carletto Giuliani) and Livio (Cristian Pertechino) are a couple of hoodlums and dawdlers who meet one day and bond over their taste for cigarettes and hooliganism. They go on with their shenanigans until they are encountered by a pack of vicious dogs. The only remaining option is running for their lives. Do they stand the chance?
The auteurs’ attitude can be read out from the title of their production company (WeHateYouTV). It is cheeky and provocative, if not downright nihilistic. The “aesthetics of the ugly” has been trending in animation for years, even decades, and the brothers’ opting for it seems fitting. There are some personal touches, however: the hand-painted backgrounds are almost static and stand in strong contrast with the concept and the look of the human characters, and the choppy animation that makes their movement appear even sharper and rougher.
Come to think of it, the landscape in Randaghi resembles a junkyard and its surroundings, while the behaviour of Nico and Livio is not that different from stray cats. The Motti brothers even ask the question of how it would play out if they were of the feline kind. One should see the film to find out.
Year:
2025
Runtime:
14’ 20’’
Country:
Italy
Language:
Italian
Directed by:
Enrico and Emanuele Motti
Written
by: Enrico and Emanuele Motti
Voice
cast: Carlteto Giuliani, Cristian
Pertechino
Music by:
Sergio Bachelet
Storyboard by:
Francesca Falasca, E.E. Motti
Animation
by: Andrea Asperges, Marta Sofia
Marzullo, Kizito Schimera, Zeno Tamagni
Produced
by: Sergio Bachelet, E.E.
Motti
Production company:
WeHateYouTV
