Gabriele Mainetti's 'Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot' reinvents the Italian superhero

In 'Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot,' director Gabriele Mainetti creates an atypical superhero film set in the Roman suburb of Tor Bella Monaca. The film follows Enzo Ceccotti (Claudio Santamaria), a petty criminal who gains super strength after falling into radioactive waste in the Tiber River. Unlike traditional superheroes, Ceccotti uses his powers for personal gain, first ripping out an ATM. The narrative, written by Nicola Guaglianone with comic elements by Menotti, blends influences from Batman, Alberto Sordi, Park Chan-wook, and the Coen brothers. Mainetti's direction recalls Matteo Garrone's 'Gomorrah' and Stefano Sollima's dynamism. The antagonist, 'lo Zingaro' played by Luca Marinelli, is a small-time criminal obsessed with fame, posting his crimes on YouTube. The film's Rome is depicted as a gritty, future-facing city, closer to Pier Paolo Pasolini's cinema than to Paolo Sorrentino's or Gianfranco Rosi's. Mainetti revives 1980s comic subculture and Italian genre cinema, following the path of Elio Petri's 'La decima vittima' (1965) and more recent works by Eros Puglielli, Manetti Bros., and Gabriele Salvatores. The film premiered in 2016.