Gomorrah: Movie Review

Gomorrah: Movie Review

Rating 7/10
Cast: Nicolo Mante, Gianfelice Imparato
Director: Matteo Garrone
A sprawling epic about the gangster way of life in Italy, Gomorrah has high aspirations.
Based on a notorious book by Roberto Saviano, it's an unflinching portrait of the working of the Comorrah (a mafia-like group) in Naples and Caserta.
Beginning with the brutal slaying of several gangsters in a tanning salon and ending with the death of two wannabe gangsters, this is not a film for the faint hearted.
In a similar vein to Magnolia, the film takes a look at five different Italian lives and how they're touched by the crime syndicate.
There's a teen who sees drugs being ditched and enters the murky world of the gangs; a timid middleman who distributes the money; a graduate trapped in the disgustingly unsafe world of toxic waste management; a tailor who teaches Chinese workers and two cocky teens who see guns being stashed and decide to steal them.
Basically all walks of life are intertwined in this cautionary and bleak tale of the crime world.
Garrone's view of the world tainted by crime is not an easy one to watch at times - various members of various gangs are dispatched brutally and callously throughout.
Gomorrah won't surprise many when it comes to how far the tentacles of crime extend but there is no glamour in the world of Gomorrah - everyone's doing what they have to to survive.
This is no rosy tinted view of gangster life as Tarantino portrayed in Pulp Fiction - it's gritty, grimy and the fact the majority of the cast are unknowns outside of Italy makes it harder to work out who'll survive the body count.
Compelling and upsetting, Gomorrah may take a while to pull you in (it's paced slowly to begin with) - but the beautifully woven narrative will leave you a little shocked and ultimately gripped- and sometimes, that's not a bad thing from a film.

An horrific view of how crime corrupts societies, destroys individuals and provides long term damage to all around it, Gomorrah is everything a good film should be.