Gomorrah – Review

Movie goers and gangsters love each other. It’s a long standing relationship that started back in the 1930s with those classic Warner Brothers film with Cagney, Bogie, and Robinson, and has continued to this day, and it looks to continue forward. Whether it was tough guys in suits or well dressed Italians, we love these guys who play by their rules and make money, big money, in a perverse American Dream way. “The world, Chico, and everything in it” said Tony Montana, the one movie gangster that has transcended into popular culture. There’s a scene in Gomorrah, where to young Italian youths are acting out scenes and one-liners from the film Scarface, that proves Tony Montana’s idealistic appeal stemming from pop culture, but serves as a reminder too as we learn throughout this film, that the days of idolizing these gangsters are over.

Matteo Garrone’s film is violent slap on our gangster movie-loving ways. Shot with a documentary feel, he showcases this gangster world of the Camorras is stark, gritty, and shockingly real. There is no romanticizing here, and for once I’m glad. Maybe it’s the way the rap world has taking a liking to these lifestyle, but big money, fancy clothes, and Scarface references grew tried, so a film like Gomorrah is a (sick but) refreshing change of pace. Even though those kids imitated Tony Montana, something felt naïve yet even in the end, they still were in their own minds, gangsters, but everything in this world is completely real and dangerous.

Based on a book of the same name, the film fictionalizes the Camorras and events, but also has the unrelenting feeling like we are watching this for real. The film follows a few different stories and characters, and by the slimmest of actions, each character could be affected. There’s no protagonist, no redemption, just people corrupted within a system of corruption that is extremely deadly and not at all like Hollywood. The film is long and winding, giving us an orchestra of violence, but also showing how involved and corrupted these lives are. The use of professional actors mixed with locals adds to the realism, the quick, abrupt gunfire creates unpredictability in our viewing.  The film is tough to watch, if for the simple fact that we are unable to side with any character. Even in Goodfellas, Henry was likable and someone we could latch onto within the film. There’s nobody like that in Gomorrah; no good guys, no glamorized crime boss, just people caught in a system that provides easy money and solid work, but a quick death.

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