Gomorrah (film)

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Gomorrah

Gomorrah Italian theatrical poster
Directed by Matteo Garrone
Produced by Domenico Procacci
Written by Matteo Garrone
Roberto Saviano
Maurizio Braucci
Ugo Chiti
Gianni Di Gregorio
Massimo Gaudioso
Starring Nicoló Manta
Gianfelice Imparato
Music by Massive Attack
Cinematography Marco Onorato
Editing by Marco Spoletini
Release date(s) May 16, 2008 (Italy)
October 10, 2008 (UK)
December 19, 2008 (USA)
Running time 135 min.
Country Italy
Language Italian
Neapolitan
Budget $6.2 million
Gross revenue $25,277,115

Gomorrah (Gomorra in Italian) is a 2008 crime film directed by Matteo Garrone, based on the book by Roberto Saviano. It deals with crime and the Camorra in Naples and Caserta.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film opens with the shootings of gangsters relaxing in a tanning salon.

It then intertwines five separate stories of Italians whose lives are touched by organized crime.

Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato) is a timid middleman, who distributes money to the families of imprisoned clan members. When making a delivery, he is ambushed by two angry clan members with an obvious grudge against their fellows; there is a feud within the clan. Wanting to save his own skin, he later offers to defect to their side. They explain to him their families were murdered by the clan and want retribution, and that they have no need for a money-carrier. Instead, Ciro leads them to the location where he is given the money for distribution. The pair raid the place, killing everyone but Ciro, and take the money. Ciro quietly walks off to an uncertain future.

Totò (Salvatore Abruzzese) is a 13-year-old grocery delivery boy who observes some drug dealers ditching some drugs and a gun when running from the police. He returns the items to the gang, who take him in. His initiation involves him being shot whilst wearing a bulletproof vest, as a test of courage. Soon after he is accepted into the gang, families in the neighborhood that are perceived to be disloyal receive a warning to move out or suffer violence; Toto's fellow gang members received similar threats. Later, whilst hanging out with his gang in the streets, one of his gang is killed in a drive-by. The gang decides to stand their ground and exact violent retribution by selecting a woman, Maria, as their next victim, because her son Simone has joined a secessionist gang. Toto, who used to be friends with Simone before the clan feud, and who has delivered groceries to Maria, is forced to lure her out of her apartment, where his comrades gun her down.

Roberto (Carmine Paternoster) is a graduate who works in toxic waste management. His boss Franco (Toni Servillo) illegally dumps the waste in disused quarries. During an operation, a drum of toxic chemicals is accidentally spilled on a driver. Franco refuses to call an ambulance, and when the workers refuse to handle the waste, Franco instead hires children to drive the trucks. When Franco decides to increase his illegal dumping, Roberto can no longer contain his disgust and quits.

Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupo) is a haute couture tailor who takes a night-job training Chinese garment workers. Because they are competing with Camorra-controlled firms, the Chinese drive him to and from work in the trunk of their car. His secret work is discovered nonetheless, and on a ride home two gunmen on a scooter open fire on the car. He survives and leaves town, taking a job as a truck driver. At a truck stop, he sees Scarlett Johansson on TV wearing one of his dresses.

Marco (Marco Macor) and Ciro (Ciro Petrone) are two cocky, out of control, teenage wannabe-gangsters who decide to make a name in the Neapolitan underworld. Full of youthful exuberance and impressed with mafia portrayals from Hollywood movies, they quote lines and spontaneously reenact scenes from Scarface while dropping references to Tony Montana, Miami, and Colombians. Their first score is taking more narcotics than they paid for during a drug purchase from some Africans. The word of the incident gets to the local mob chieftain who summons them and warns them under threat of violence not to repeat such behavior in the future. Ignoring him completely, they spy Camorra gangsters hiding a stash of weapons. They steal the weapons and amuse themselves by firing off rounds by the riverbank. One day, out of money, they use their guns to rob a video arcade. They spend their money at a strip club, where the angry gangsters find them and threaten to kill them if they don't return the weapons within a day. The pair prove stubborn, so one of the gangsters tries a different tactic: he approaches them in a bar with an offer of €10,000 if they return the weapons and conduct a murder. They accept the offer, which turns out to be a trap, as they are ambushed and killed at the location of their supposed target.

[edit] Critical reception

Gomorra received positive reviews from critics. As of November 20, 2009, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported 106 positive reviews and 11 negative, giving the film an 91% critical approval rating.[1]

In reviewing Garrone's film based on the book, Christoph Huber wrote: "With its interest in moving beyond the categories of novel or non-fiction, Saviano's work has been identified as part of a heterogeneous strain of national literature, subsumed as the New Italian Epic. A term that certainly isn't disgraced by Gomorrah, the film."[2].

[edit] Top ten lists

The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[3]

[edit] Awards and nominations

The movie was premiered in North America at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. It won the Ari-Zeiss Award at the Munich Film Festival.[4] The film was chosen by the National Association of Cinemagraphic Industries to represent Italy in contention for Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Academy Awards. Despite the earlier success at Cannes, and defying expectations it failed to be short-listed.[5] On December 11, Gomorra was given a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film. Gomorra won the European Film 2008 best film award in Copenhagen on 6 December 2008.[6]

[edit] Historical basis

The film, following the book it is based on, portrays events identifiably similar to actual historical ones; compare the Scampia feud. In the film's credits, the filmmakers thank the regions of Scampia and Torre del Greco, as well as the region and police force (carabinieri) of nearby Boscoreale — these three suburban areas around the Bay of Naples featuring such an urban landscape as appropriate for filming this story.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gomorrah/
  2. ^ Christop Huber, "Gomorrah", Cinemascope #35
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2008/toptens.shtml. Retrieved January 11, 2009. 
  4. ^ http://www.filmfest-muenchen.de/rc/ffm_en/filmfest/arrizeiss_en.asp
  5. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7827949.stm
  6. ^ AWARDS WATCH '08 | "Gomorrah" Wins Five European Film. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
Awards
Preceded by
The Mourning Forest		 Grand Prix, Cannes
2008		 Succeeded by
A Prophet
Preceded by
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days		 European Film Award for Best European Film
2008		 Succeeded by
The White Ribbon
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