Gomorrah – directed by Matteo Garrone, Running time 135’, 2008.
„Gomorra”
Acclaimed screen adaptation of an equally successful and shrouded in scandal book by Robert Saviano.One of the two most influential Italian mafia organizations - Camorra based in Naples decided to punish the author by death after the book was released. The plot of the book reveals the mechanisms of the Naples underworld and the web entangling the whole city from the world of great politics to everyday life of regular people. The crime organization controls almost every aspect of contemporary life in the city, establishing its own, radical code. Unlike F.F Coppola in his Godfather, the authors of the film are far from romanticizing the gangsters. Garrone rather focuses on a dispassionate, methodical observation; he wants to present this world without embellishing it and layering it with contexts. The camerawork, similar to that of a documentary where the camera follows characters and events like a silent witness, and a characteristic way of narrating create and constantly enhance the feeling of danger and anxiety. This is the world of Camorra. As the artist seems to be saying, here violence and bloodshed is part of one’s everyday existence. Human life is of little value, unlike power, money, and social status. At times Gomorrah is unpleasantly but also enthrallingly realistic.
What’s interesting, some of the minor characters were played by real-life criminals from Naples. It is worth to see this film as it offers a different, less common look at contemporary south of Italy and the extraordinary city of Naples.