Review of Gomorrah (2008) by Lee G — 16 Jul 2010

After reading the excellent book by Roberto Saviano, I decided I should watch the film as soon as possible. I was skeptical about how they would adapt the book on to screen, and I was right to be skeptical.

Not that Gommorah is a bad film, it's incredibly shot and acted very well, it just doesn't pack as much of a punch as the book and isn't well adapted.

The book concentrates far more on facts and figures and attempts to expose the Camorra for the worldwide powerful organisation that it is. The film concentrates instead on several individual stories that are cited as examples in the book yet not given so much importance. So while the film manages to capture the individual experiences it fails to capture the Camorra's power and presence as a whole and leaves out several of the best things from the book.

Basically events that are cited in the book as examples to state a point are blown out of proportion and used to make up the film.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD......

The film is centered around many people living and working in different parts of Naples. Naples is the drug-capital of Europe and is also the city with the most murders per year in Europe. This is because Naples is firmly in the grip of the most powerful criminal organization in the world and also one of the least known. The men and women of the Camorra have interests from Colombia all the way to Somalia and invest their money all over the world.

The film tells several different stories which I will attempt to resume:

-That of a very skilled tailor who works illegally and is exploited by his boss, he ends up going to the Chinese and selling his expertise, with tragic consequences.

-That of two teenagers who steal some weapons and believe they are the "kings of the world", they challenge the authority of the System (as the Camorra members call their organization) with tragic consequences.

-That of a man charged with bringing money to the families of men who have been killed or imprisoned, he finds himself caught in a war between the System and a Secessionist group.

-That of a young boy who joins the System, is initiated, but loses his best friend who goes over to the other side.

-That of a young man who works for a high placed member of the System, he is tasked with illegal toxic waste disposal but is horrified at the effects it has on the land he grew up in.

.......

All these stories show different aspects of life under the Camorra and in that they succeed very well, I thought that a larger scale was needed though for this film to have moe of an impact.

The direction is very documentary like and succeeds very well in adding the realism needed to make this film believable. The terrible conditions that the suburbs of Naples and the surrounding country side are in are captured extremely well.

The acting was pretty good all around but the stories alternate often and it's hard to choose a performance that really stood out above the others, if forced to though I would probably pick the actor who played Pasquale, the Tailor, he gave a very humble yet moving performance.

In my opinion the visuals are much more captivating than the acting.

The soundtrack was filled with Italian music which I have never heard, it is fitting seeing as the film takes place in Italy, but I can't say I liked it much.

The dialogue was all in Italian, I watched it with sub-titles and I think that it can be quite confusing especially if you haven't read the book, there is a lot of explaining at times and you will be quite confused if you miss it.

The plot would have been better if it had been centered around one character who gradually discovers the full extent of the Comorra's power through personal experiences and stories told to him. Instead the plot is quite hard to follow and tries to cover each different aspect of life under the Comorra with a different character.

There are some positive things about it though, for this film brings to the attention of many viewers the fact that a criminal organization that is amongst the most powerful in the world has gone largely unheard of until recently and this is the first film about The Comorra I've heard of and I hope there will be more.

The characters were ,as I have said, used to show different aspects of life under the Comorra. They are all very different, some of them are tired of this dangerous and unstable life some of them love it. Over the course of the film many of them get caught up in various feuds and wars, which are hard to fully understand but seem to be just as vague to those involved.

My personal favourite was Pasquale, he was an extremely talented tailor (one of the best in the world) but was forced to work illegally for the Camorra, he received orders, he made the dresses without knowing who they would go to and then sent them off in the guise of a dress produced by a large fashion company. One day he sees one of his dresses being worn by a celebrity but he lnows no one will believe that he made it, he becomes weary of this life and seeks work as a truck-driver where his extraordinary talent goes to waste. This is a true story.

Overall Gomorrah is a very informative film if you know nothing about the conditions in Naples, but you will find it unsatisfying if you have read and enjoyed the book.

Recommended for all with an interest in the subjest matter and for those who have read the book, even though I'm afraid you will find it to be a bit disappointing. It is a very good film and worth watching for the amazing shots of Naples and for getting some basic knowlegde on the Comorra. I do recommend the book!