It seems a very strange subject for a movie: a young teen who suffers from phimosis, which turns his sexual development into a painful and frustrating experience. The English title "Short skin" by the way seems a bad choice: if anything, it's not about too short, but rather about too long (or too narrow) skin. Why didn't they settle for the literal translation of Italian title: "The pains of young Edo", which so wonderfully captures the factual as well as the emotional inflictions that main character Edo has to endure.
Anyway, once you accept this unusual premise, you are in for a very sympathetic, endearing and insightful coming-of-age film. The atmosphere reminded me very much of "The hand of God" by Sorrentino (2021): a sensitive teenager searching for sexual and emotional fulfillment, in the midst of all kinds of everyday personal and family turmoils, set in the sensuous light of an Italian summer.
Of course, here the phimosis is the pivot of the story and this makes for some awkward but also hilarious scenes. Director Duccio Chiarini shows everything that young Edo goes through without any prudish restraint, which gives the movie a very honest and open feel. The whole thing is evidently a curious but fascinating metaphor: the fear of a young teen in a sexual situation to show his true self and experience rejection (aka pain). This is cleverly symbolized at the end, when the cured and clearly elated Edo dares to stick out his head out of the window of a riding train
Apart from this specific premise, there is a lot more to enjoy in this movie. The dialogues of Edo with his precocious sister, his macho and boasting best friend, his bickering parents and even his doctor are all so funny, meaningful and sensitive. The photography is great, and I loved the editing, all these short, almost fragmented scenes in which at times nothing much seemed to happen, but together they made the whole emotional development of Edo all the more visible. Chiarini doesn't use complicated means or heavy twists and turns, but lets the story evolve in a very easy and natural way. In which he is greatly helped by the wonderful acting of young Matteo Creatini, who very convincingly and touchingly shows all the inner (and outward) turmoils of Edo.
