Review of Gomorrah (2008) by Blackity B — 03 Dec 2009

A seminal gangster movie. Matteo Garrone rejects Hollywood genre conventions in favor of a more Italian neo-realist approach, knocking gangster glamor on its ass, depicting mob life in Naples as a greasy, sweaty, chain-wearing, bad tattoo-sporting, trash existence.

And yet, this organization is far-reaching and powerful, swimming in the blood streams of nations beyond Italian borders. GOMORRAH doesn't lay out structure for you the way films like GOODFELLAS or THE ROARING TWENTIES do.

The structure is there, you just have to look for it. What is immediately apparent are the effects of mob life on the streets and in personal lives, as told through various semi-related plot threads. Garrone is smart enough not to ignore gangsters in pop-culture altogether, as two of the characters are dumbass gangster wanna-be's, their introduction being them quoting lines from the Brian De Palma version of SCARFACE.

We see something similar here in America, as a life of crime is something we see glamorized in films and pop music (although anyone intelligent enough can see the commentary in something like SCARFACE or THE GODFATHER, it only washes over the heads of the mentally deficient).

GOMORRAH is a real genre-buster, go see it immediately.