Review of Gomorrah (2008) by Andy A — 16 Aug 2009

Unlike most American mob movies, and not to be confused with the glamorized Sicilian Cosa Nostra, this cold, hardboiled muck-raking expose entrenches itself in gritty cynicism when it comes to gangsters in the city of Naples.

Obviously the title is a play on words (e.g. "Gomorra" versus "Camorra", Italy's oldest organized criminal party), and the pun is well-suited. It's decidedly of another breed altogether since much of the action revolves around many non-mob personalities---such as a skilled but expendable high-end tailor, a delivery boy caught up in a local slum war, a money carrier, two wannabe hoods reared on Brian De Palma and finally, a grad student under the tutelage of a polished stakeholder specializing in backdoor corporate affairs.

The film documents the events in the same way that doctors might scrutinize the spread of cancer through a dying human body, examining every infectious level, from cradle to grave, of the afflicted society's corruption.

It's got a sweaty, often grimy look and Matteo Garrone is quick to shave away any grandiose notions of honor and loyalty, stripping the end results of the carnage bare so that something valuable might be learned from events that carry little inherent meaning but a great deal of suffering.

It's easy to see why Scorcese was attracted to such a project; the similarly unfiltered look at mafia life that may be found in films like "Goodfellas" or "Casino" is readily available here too.

But don't worry about sob stories because, for the most part, the only thing that might detract from this film is its length and complexity: it felt like they could have at least shaved it down by a good twenty minutes.

Short of that however, the trip is a moody, sometimes eloquent, mostly bloody business that feels less like a documentary and more like a catalog of social decay that needs to be seen in order to be understood.