Ratataplan

Colombo studied engineering in Milan. He passes an entrance test for a job but is not hired precisely because he was the only one who passed. He works as a barman, tries to set up a theatre company, and none of it sticks. There is a girl he likes in the same building and he cannot bring himself to approach her. Instead he builds a robot that looks like him, dresses it in disco clothes and sends it out in front of her. The most striking thing about the film is this: there is almost no speech. The story is told entirely in images, movement and facial expression. Maurizio Nichetti wrote it, directed it and starred in it; he came out of mime and that training shows in every scene. This was his first feature, it screened in Venice in 1979 and became an unexpected commercial success. Nichetti took the award for best new director that year. Ninety-five minutes.