Le Pupille

There's a majestic "English pudding" at the centre of this Oscar-nominated short - but really this latest from Alice Rohrwacher is an enjoyable trifle. Her less than serious approach is signposted from the start as we're told it's "a film clumsily and freely based on a letter to the writer Elisa Morante sent to her friend".

Within the halls of a Catholic all-girls boarding school Christmas is approaching, not that you'd notice much from the attitude of the strict Mother Superior (played with an unyielding sternness by the director's sister Alba). The little girls under the nuns' care have just a hint of naughtiness about them, although Serafina (Melissa Falasconi) seems the odd one out. The other kids aren't really including her in their group chatter, perhaps because she's the quickest to obey the nuns' orders - but in a nice spot of ambiguity, there's no real sense that she's the teacher's pet.

The trouble really starts when a woman (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) rocks up at the gate wanting a prayer for a special someone. The children, you see, are innocent souls, soon to be strapped into a spectacular Nativity scene in order to offer up special prayers. In return for her wish, she has brought with her that English pudding - a lavish affair made with 70 eggs which is made all the more outlandishly lavish by the fact that it's wartime.

The cake is just one part of a set of events that also involve the Nativity costumes, an unexpected piece of frivolity on the radio and a chimney sweep - all of which are decent ingredients for this sort of comic tale. A rare dip into the world of short filmmaking by cinematographer Hélène Louvart (Disco Boy, Rocks) she uses 16mm film and the natural cool light of winter to good effect.

The running time of 38 minutes is a bit of a half-way house, almost asking to be either condensed or expanded upon, so while the plotting is fine, the characterisation remains thin. This is undeniably sweet and with a clutch of charming performances from the children, particularly Falasconi, but it feels like a taste of Christmas rather than a full feast.