They Call Me Jeeg (2015)

Enzo, a lonely and misanthropic small time crook, uses the superpowers gained after falling in the Tiber river to chase down a crazy gangster called "The gypsy".

Director:

Gabriele Mainetti

Writers:

Nicola Guaglianone (story), Nicola Guaglianone (screenplay)

Stars:

Claudio Santamaria, Luca Marinelli, Ilenia Pastorelli

17 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claudio Santamaria	...	Enzo Ceccotti
Luca Marinelli	...	Zingaro
Ilenia Pastorelli	...	Alessia
Stefano Ambrogi	...	Sergio
Maurizio Tesei	...	Biondo
Francesco Formichetti	...	Sperma
Daniele Trombetti	...	Tazzina
Joel Sy	...	Claudietto
Gianluca Di Gennaro	...	Antonio
Salvatore Esposito	...	Vincenzo
Antonia Truppo	...	Nunzia
Juana Jimenez	...	Marcellone
Tommaso Di Carlo	...	Efeso
Giampaolo Crescenzio	...	Pinocchio
Tamken Abdulaziz	...	Corriere #1

Storyline

The film is a strange and anti-hero transposition of a very popular animated manga cartoon in the 80's called Steel Jeeg. Here, a young outlaw (Enzo) is somehow affected by radioactive waste in the Tiber waters in Rome. He subsequently finds out he has gained super powers and interprets them as a reward for never having managed to enter the criminal world that counts. The inside joke reveals itself when Enzo meets Alessia, who believes the charming hero is the personification of the hero in the cartoon she used to watch.

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Plot Keywords:

radioactive waste | insane woman | reference to steel jeeg | super villain | superhero | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Italy] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

25 February 2016 (Italy)

Also Known As:

They Call Me Jeeg Robot

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

€1,700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goon Films,Rai Cinema,Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo (MiBACT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point in the film, Enzo is asked if he was bitten by a bat in order to become a superhero. Claudio Santamaria (Enzo) previously served as the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman for the Italian dubbing of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and also for The Lego Movie's Batman. Also, the off-screen voice heard from a TV reporter in the closing sequence, was provided by Adriano Giannini who dubbed the Joker in the same series of movies.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Connections

Referenced in OffStage - Interviste dal Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia: Episode #1.1 (2016)

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Soundtracks

Mmiezo a 'sta gente
Written and performed by Larry Del Prete

User Reviews

Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot - Review

In the attempt of hiding from the police, Enzo Ceccotti, a small street criminal, jumps in the very polluted river Tevere; a few days after he'll discover to have acquired extraordinary powers.

I'm sure that it will not be easy to fully comprehend the beauty of this movie if you don't understand the complexity of the contemporary Italy. This movie depicts perfectly a country full of contradictions: a breath-taking city envied all over the world that hides a degraded outskirt deep inside; a generation of children stuck in their grown ups bodies with their vanilla puddings and their Japanese anime on local TV channels; a criminal class that fluctuates from the ridiculousness to the ruthlessness to whom money has the same importance than popularity and Youtube visualization numbers; and a criminal with no emotional bonds, values or reasons to do good (that would not inspire empathy in any other superhero movies), is saved from an unexpected "damsel in distress" and becomes the hero of a community that often looks hopeless to those who live here every day but that sometimes, unexpectedly, finds its superpowers in the common people, the real heroes of this crazy, misunderstood country.