Even though Edo’s particular problem is uncommon, it would be hard to find anyone who is or has ever been a teenager that couldn’t identify with him.
As if sexuality isn’t awkward enough for teenagers, Edoardo’s embarrassing medical condition makes normal relationships with girls seem hopeless. Director Duccio Chiarini has crafted a coming of age story like no other, using phimosis, a congenital deformity of the penis as the teen’s barrier to happiness.
At this point in Edo’s life it’s all he can focus on, and his bickering parents, annoying little sister, and best friend are all just background noise, something he wishes he could turn off. The neighbor girl is the love of his life, but how can he ever have her? He’s deformed; his life is ruined.
It’ll take a kindly prostitute, a punk rock girl, and a practical doctor to rescue him from his terrible fate, and I’m not spoiling anything to tell you that he is, of course, rescued. This is a comedy, not a tragedy.
But it’s no After School Special either. The nudity is pretty graphic – practically everyone in the movie is taking a look at Edo’s penis – and After School Specials usually encourage kids to keep it in their pants, not tell them to “get out there and use it”. Americans may want to watch it first before encouraging their kids to see it.
All in all, Short skin is clever, funny, and real; he’s got the teenage look and talk right. And it’s about far more than just young Edo’s dick. Sex, everyone’s having it but, even for the family dog, it’s more than just recreational. And it’s about growing up, change, and the fear of all that stuff that adults forget teenagers are afraid of.
Short Skin is opening in NYC in the US October 9.
Stars Matteo Creatini, Francesca Agostini, Nicola Nocchi and Bianca Nappi.
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