Movie Review: Gomorrah (2009)
A lack of focus is its flaw, but your emotions will run high
Photo: IFC Films
Gomorrah is based on the highly acclaimed non-fiction account by Roberto Saviano, but its dedication to that material causes the film to lack focus as it spreads itself too thin by telling five separate stories. While all five stories are linked to organized crime in Naples, Italy it isn't revealed until the film is actually over that we are watching a film about the Camorra clan, also known as the "System". As it turns out the film serves as more of a 137 minute commercial for Saviano's book rather than a complete feature film. This doesn't make Gomorrah a bad film by any stretch – the ambiguity actually peaks my interest – but as a singular effort the lack of focus is a problem.
While the story delves into drugs, reckless toxic waste disposal and even designer clothing, the most prominent aspect of the story is the effect all of it has on society at large, primarily the children. Two stories specifically stand out; the first is Toto, a 13-year-old boy we meet as he delivers groceries to a variety of friendly households only to find him later in the story helping out in unimaginable and violent ways. Just as affecting is the story of two loose cannons known as Marco and Ciro, two high-school (perhaps older) age kids who live of dreaming the life of Tony Montana filled with guns, strippers and drugs. The two come off as nothing more than a pair of street rats, infecting the atmosphere everywhere they roam and looking for any scrap they can pick up. The fact they are an obvious product of their environment is what makes their plight so affecting.
The high fashion angle is perhaps the weakest storyline as it really seems to be the only tangent that doesn't maintain a connection to the other four. At least the toxic waste story shows how it affects local farmland as well as those directly working with it, including an appalling scene as young children who couldn't be any older than 12-years-old are brought in to drive the trucks delivering barrels of waste to the dump sites. The drug trade is only mildly touched upon directly as much as it is a part of the cause of the violence that is witnessed.
A note on the Camorra saved until the end of the film, and really should have been placed at the beginning, tells the audience it is responsible for more than 4,000 murders over the past 30 years, which is more than the IRA, ETA, Islamic terrorist groups and Costa Nostra. The mafias in Italy have an army of more than 25,000 people and daily drug trade earnings in Scampia, a suburb of Naples, can earn a single clan 500,000 Euros. Information like this should not have been saved for the end of the film as everything witnessed would have been far more impactful if the facts of the situation had been revealed at the outset.
Gomorrah, however, seems more interested in informing rather than entertaining no matter when the information is offered. And once the details are known it is hard to get any real "movie" entertainment out of it at all anyway. The stories presented here are based on Saviano's research and were taken from real life, and as a result little attempt is made to glorify the villains, which is quite understandable. Had this been an attempt at a Godfather style of film it would have been best served as a franchise taking each arm of the Camorra and building on them over the course of several films. That was obviously not the intent, but the film would have been better served if it had dropped a couple of the storylines and found a central theme rather than simply a central villain, especially since the villain is a large group and not one individual. Director Matteo Garrone decided it would be best to simply place the viewer in the middle of the mayhem and hope the violence and illegal activity would generate enough curiosity to keep the viewer intrigued.
This film does not present Italy as the romantic getaway it is most often perceived to be in film. Gomorrah is a vision of a savage territory where the strong prey on the weak. Supporters of the "System" are paid for their family's loyalty. Children serve as drug dealers and delivery boys and all social classes from doctors to street sweepers are known to be supporters. This film appears to be a small piece of a giant puzzle and it is certainly intriguing and influences the idea of further research, but some may leave the film feeling as if they didn't get quite enough, and really, they didn't.
Gomorrah is a good place to start if what I am talking about interests you. The general lack of singular focus due to a storyline too big for one film is its only flaw, everything else it offers is highly effective and often devastating. Ignorance, stupidity and several unsympathetic characters will generate a host of emotions as you watch, but when it's all said and done you won't feel entirely satisfied as plenty of scenarios are offered up, but the root cause of it all is left to text on the screen just before the credits roll.
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