Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Gomorrah
- Commentary: If you want to watch a film about the mob, this is the film you want to see. This film isn't, like the Godfather trilogy, deadly but beautiful and somewhat sympathetic. This film is gritty, grim and deadly. There is no sympathy for the organization it portrays, nor the actors and their motivations within the organization. There is no beauty in this dump of corruption. At times, it's like watching a documentary shot undercover. This is probably due to the fact that it is based on a non-fiction book of the same name written by Roberto Saviano.
If you want a romantic portrayal of crime syndicates that, despite it's savagery, manages to put on gorgeous weddings and muster a certain ethical construct that is almost understandable to "just regular people", watch the Godfather Trilogy. This movie is not that trilogy.
Although this movie garnered much acclaim, not everyone appreciated it. Dan Schneider of Critical Movie Critics had several bones to pick with the movie and, frankly, he's not wrong. In fact, what disturbed me about the movie is that, typically, even documentaries attempt to entertain, if only to keep eyes on the screen. This movie, whether objectively considered a documentary, docudrama or the term Dan Schneider attaches to it, cinema verité, allows the viewer, me, that is, no place to seek a little sultry refuge for awhile. It's bare bones dread and death. Many times for no discernable reason. And that's it. Which fascinates me. So, I'll watch it, again. I'm glad I have it in my collection. To my (paltry) knowledge of film, it's one of a kind. What does that admission say about me?
This movie has a list of Actors/Characters as long as my two arms. The following table contains only the first twelve, even though, in some movie tables, I've gone as far as listing twenty. So many of the characters in this movie die, though, after a few minutes on screen ...
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Toni Servillo Franco Gianfelice Imparato Don Ciro Maria Nazionale Maria Salvatore Cantalupo Pasquale Gigio Morra Iavarone Salvatore Abruzzese Totò Marco Macor Marco Ciro Petrone Ciro Carmine Paternoster Roberto Giovanni Venosa Don Giovanni Vittorio Russo Zio Vittorio Bernardino Terracciano Zio Bernardino
Here is the Wikipedia write-up for this movie.
Release Date: 2008
Directed by Matteo Garrone.
Labels: §, Criterion2, dramaD, gang-movie, violence3
