Enzo wears suede shoes, lives on yoghurt and watching adult content. He is also a petty misanthropic thief: one time, on the run, he fell into a river and was exposed to toxic waste, which gave him superpowers of strength and healing. Enzo soon becomes indestructible, a superhuman powerhouse and, quite unexpectedly, the guardian angel to a traumatised girl who is convinced that Enzo is a personification of the iconic robot hero from a popular manga series.

In the film They Call Me Jeeg Robot, screened in The Great 5 section, director Gabriele Mainetti is taking us to the suburbs of Rome where this neorealistic hero and psychopathic criminal fight to survive everyday life. For its bizarre and violent scenes, Italian critics compared Mainetti’s cinematography to Tarantino.

Jeeg thus becomes a violent counterpart to superhuman American blockbusters, but armed with action stunts, strong social criticism and hosts of dark humour. The Croatian premiere is scheduled for Thursday, 17 November at 5pm, Tuškanac cinema, with a rerun the next day, 18 November, at 9pm, Museum of Contemporary Art.