Gomorra

It is without a doubt that the film Gomorra- based on the novel by Roberto Saviano (who, due to the books controversy now travels with a permanent police escort) is a new kind of mafia film. Aesthetically, it is more like a reenactment for a documentary sans the narration than the highly-romanticized Godfather-mafia films or the more recent HBO series, The Sopranos. This fresh attempt at telling an often-told story makes Gomorra intriguing enough and nothing like what we have come to expect from a mafia film. The characters are completely unlikable and if they look more like poor products of cheap cocaine and bad Italian techno then its because they are. The film is also completely without a soundtrack and no one eats a large dinner cooked by "Mama."

Instead, the camera stumbles along (I think that director Matteo Garrone forgot his tripod for this film) while taking in all the unglamorous details of the hard and dangerous life of different characters who are loosely related and tied to the criminal activities which plagues greater Naples. This no-frills portrayal creates a hyper-reality that at moments effectively pays off but unfortunately not enough. The problem in Gomorrah is that the film comes with an agenda but is too committed to maintaining the realistic nature of the story to fully explore what it has come to convey. The end result is that Gomorra is actually quit boring. After all, people being shot in the head isn't enough to get an audience engaged anymore. And while were being honest, we've all seen those mafia films so we already know how they end: tragically.

However, it's not how it ends but how we get there, right? Yet, the problem still remains because Gomorra doesn't invest the time into its characters to make the viewers really care what happens to them-- or rather, how it happens. Sure, this actually might be the point of the film's treatment of its characters. In war, whether on the streets of Naples or in the deserts of the Middle East, people lose their identity and become disposable. The film, more or less, treats its characters the same way. Furthermore, we do become aware that in the view of those who run the criminal activities, money and power is more valuable than human life—a major theme fueling the tragic nature of the events that unfold. However, Gomorra wants to go further and show the full extent that this culture of crime has caused and its widespread effect on almost all aspects of the city while maintain its realistic, documentary-like quality. It is for the most part successful in this attempt but ultimately the film falters in the indifference of how, purposeful or unintentional, it handles its characters. Gomorra has a lot to offer but its potential is realized only in brief moments throughout. While still worth a watch, the film comes across as being too caught up in its methods and approach that it often forgets that it is actually telling a story and not just documenting events taking place.