Italy | 2008 | Directed by Matteo Garrone
Logline: Five interwoven stories describe life and work in the province of Naples and Caserta where residents are forced to obey the violent, uncompromising rules of organized crime, known as the Camorra.
In a narrative that bears similarities to two other movies that deal with power, money and blood; Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch) and Cidade de Deus (City of God), Gomorrah is a powerful and disquieting portrait of the ambition and struggle of those caught under the thumb of the “System”. A system that is cruel and heartless, loyal only to those that comply to its strict regime of financial submission and ethical compromise.
The movie is based on an incredibly controversial non-fiction book written by Roberto Saviano, which upon its publication resulted in Saviano now living under police protection. Five screenwriters have tackled the source material and director Garrone films the stories in as naturalistic way as possible. At times it almost feels like a documentary, which ostensibly it is, even though it is actors in contrived scenarios. These situations and predicaments really happened, and continue to happen on a daily basis.
The statistics are horrifying: The Camorra is an enterprise that generates war. Over the past thirty years Italian organized crime was been responsible for the deaths of 10,000 people. The Camorra alone has murdered 4,000, more than any other criminal organization or terrorist group. The Camorra earns money, not just through drug and arms trafficking or the protection racket, but by doing business in construction, textiles, tourism, hospitality, banking, etc. The Camorra has even bought shares in the construction of the Freedom Tower in New York City.
In the five stories adults and adolescents are all victims to one degree or another. There’s young Toto ( Salvatore Abruzzese) who’s keen to become a gangster, there’s cocksure Marco (Marco Macor) and Ciro (Ciro Petrone) who act like gangsters already, while Roberto (Carmine Paternoster) feels the pressure of dodgy work ethics weighing heavily on his conscience, as does Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupo), who gives up the secrets of his trade only to find his life in danger, and Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato) collects blood money, and is finds his discretion is threatened.
Gomorrah is about survival in a world of injustice and inhumanity. It is a world overwhelmed by greed and being eaten alive by a nihilistic view of power. This stark vision is compounded by the spare, minimal style of director Garrone, and the powerful acting from the ensemble cast. The violence, in classic Scorsese style, is never gratuitous, but is always sudden and brutal, just as it is in real life. The threat of it is implicit, and then it explodes.
The movie is overlong, but for the most part the stories are compelling, the unpredictable nature of the character’s plights providing much of the movie’s dynamism, even if some of them aren’t the most likable figures. It is slowburn, but incendiary nevertheless. The use of mostly source music adds a sense of realism, however the superb electronic piece over the end credits, Herculaneum, co-composed by Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja (3D) pounds the nail on its hard, dark head.
Although not nearly as vibrant or virtuoso in its visual style as Amores Perros or Cidade de Deus, Gommorah is still commanding filmmaking many striking images and enough thematic resonance to linger long and hard in the moral mind.
TRAILER:
If the movie is overlong but there are five stories, could it be watched in two sittings or are the stories too interwoven?
Hi Cheryl, the stories cut back and forth, so best watched in one sitting. It feels long because of the nature of the visual narrative which is done in almost cinema verite style. It clocks in at around 130 minutes I think.