Writer: Casey Lee

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Watch this if you liked: "I Am Love" and "A Five Star Life".

It is the 70s in Naples where Peppino (Luigi Catani) is born and raised. Being physically deficient at the tender age of nine, the boy is constantly bullied by schoolmates and confused by the world that is growing beside him. When his mother is taken ill from heartbreak, Peppino's care is rotated among his relatives, from the elderly grandparents to the grownups of his generation, as they show and teach him the facets of life and the bigger world out there.

"I Am Love" screenwriter Ivan Cotroneo makes his directorial debut with this small coming of age dramedy for an odd superhero generation. Cotroneo devises a story that has some strong matured themes like homosexuality, drugs, and the never ending search of freedom, but helps to put them through a safe lens that may be bewildering for children to understand, but a nostalgic trip for the adults who have been through the phases life.

This is delivered by the lovable cast that gives out a caring performance, who are the gateways for Peppino's innocent understanding of the things that he is exposed to of the world around him. From the cycle of life embodied by the pets his father Antonio (Luca Zingaretti) bought for him, his hipster aunt Titiana (Cristiana Capotondi), who is active in some questionable circles, or the search for true love by his mother's colleague, Assunta (Monica Nappo), Peppino absorbs and tries to figure out how they would fit into his own life. But his most important guide is his imaginary uncle who is dressed in a red cape and a cheaply made blue spandex after a known superhero that becomes the moral compass for Peppino to collect his thoughts and make sense of what he has learned.

While there is a shy air of romance, strangeness and warmth in seeing Peppino growing up, there is also a bitter and somber side in seeing the ailment that stricken his mother, Rosaria (Valeria Golino), who is given a more serious role to play and carries it with gusto, as she come to terms with her loss and depression. This helps to paint a picture that adulthood and the comforts that comes from a larger realization of life also means that childhood dreams are lost when we have found our place in the sometimes cruel reality.

Though it is quite a shame that "Kryptonite!" doesn't come with a more powerful or gratifying resolution for all of its characters from its abrupt ending and short runtime, it is a sweet reminder that life goes on whether we choose to or not. We should also enjoy the adventures that are ahead of us from the ups and the downs.


Cinema Online, 12 November 2013