Set in 1970s Naples, bullied nine year-old Peppino is watching the world around him as his extended dysfunctional family change. Psychedelic flower power and hippie love is threatening the old traditional southern Italian family. Dad is having an affair and Mom has taken to her bed with depression. Super-mod brother and sister Titina and Salvatore take the boy under their wings, introducing him to demonstrations and love-ins, whilst caped superhero Gennaro visits Peppino even after being knocked down and killed by the number 12 bus. It is the imaginary appearances of this older superman cousin that help the nine-year-old navigate the complicated adult world.
Acting
Valeria Golino's bed-bound depression is devastatingly precise.
Production
Naples locations that reek of authentic 70s working-class texture.
Costume
Titina's super-mod wardrobe deserves its own spin-off.
Director
Ivan Cotroneo
Valeria Golino
Rosaria
Cristiana Capotondi
Titina
Luca Zingaretti
Antonio
Libero De Rienzo
Salvatore
Luigi Catani
Peppino
Lucia Ragni
Carmela
Vincenzo Nemolato
Gennaro
Massimiliano Gallo
Arturo
Monica Nappo
Assunta
Rosaria De Cicco
Maestra Lina
Antonia Truppo
Valeria
Nunzia Schiano
Spanish aunt
Sergio Solli
Vincenzo
Gennaro Cuomo
Federico
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title 'Kryptonite!' references Peppino's fantasy of his cousin as an invincible Superman figure, subverting the hero's actual weakness.
Director Ivan Cotroneo adapted his own novel; the film captures Italy's 1970s 'anni di piombo' tension where communist organizing and Catholic tradition violently collided in working-class families.
IT
