Akademik

(1940-)

   Painter, set designer, and theater, television, and film director. After a period of working extensively in theater and television, Capuano made his directorial film debut with Vito e gli altri (Vito and the Others, 1991), a gritty depiction of delinquent children in the poorer quarters of Naples that was awarded the International Critics Award at the 1992 Venice Festival and won the Nastro d'argento for Best New Director. However, his second feature, Pianese Nunzio 14 anni a maggio (Pianese Nunzio Fourteen in May, 1996), severely divided the critics at Venice in 1996 for its depiction of a sexual relationship between a young street urchin with a beautiful voice and a courageous priest battling the Neapolitan Mafia. After Sofialoren, a half-hour episode made as part of the omnibus film I Vesuviani (The Vesuvians, 1997), Capuano's third feature, Polvere di Napoli (Dust of Naples, 1998), ironically updated the picture-postcard portrait of Naples provided in Vittorio De Sica's L'oro di Napoli (Gold of Naples, 1954). Two years later Naples was again the setting for the violent implosion of a Mafia family depicted with all the intensity of a Greek tragedy in Luna rossa (Red Moon, 2001). Capuano's most recent film, La guerra di Mario (Mario's War, 2005), sensitively tackled the vexing issue of temporary adoption.

   Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema by Alberto Mira