Review: ‘Gomorrah’

After hearing everything I have about ‘Gomorrah’ for the past several months, I’ve been intrigued by the hype. Now that I’ve had a chance to see the film, I find myself with mixed emotions surrounding it’s ultimate place on the chart of success. By far, most of the talk I’ve read about the movie supports it as an accomplishment, but there have been some negative reviews including one or two scathingly bad ones.

Then again, I’m not writing about what other people have written. I’m developing my own opinion of ‘Gomorrah’ but it’s not been a terribly easy task. I wanted to like the movie going in, but I found myself on more than one occasions during my viewing of ‘Gomorrah’ in a battle between being thoroughly engaged and being on the brink of slumber. At times, this roller coaster of interest made watching the film somewhat taxing on my attention span. The film’s 137 minute running time didn’t help either and the somewhat fragmented structure, while not a disaster, did make watching the movie a little like making walking though a labyrinth with nothing to navigate my way but a series of Mensa puzzles.

‘Gomorrah’ tells the story, no… tells multiple stories centered on the underbelly of modern Italian society, from youth street violence to questionable business dealings. The movie is split into five separate stories of individuals whose lives are affected by the modern Italian mafia. ‘Gomorrah’ is shot as a docu-drama, with a slightly gritty and handheld visual style that lends well to the concept, but can also detract from the movie by enhancing the occasionally slow, clumsy pace.

There are some great scenes in ‘Gomorrah’ and this alone makes the film worth seeing. I found myself watching subtly captured moments of human emotion, not over-played but effectively underplayed, forcing me to care about some of these characters. This is especially true of the tailor Pasquale’s (Salvatore Cantalupo) story, who is secretly moonlighting with a competitor of his mafia-controlled employer. The story of Toto, a 13-year old boy who delivers groceries, is also a wonderfully compelling but heart-wrenching tale of a young life influenced to travel down the wrong path. The remaining three stories are also well told, including an aging middle-man caught in the middle of a mafia war, a college graduate who is awarded a cushy job with a mafia-run waste disposal company that weighs on his conscious, and two young wanna-be gangsters who uncover the whereabouts of a local bosses weapons cache and quote ‘Scarface’ all day.

The most powerful element of ‘Gomorrah’ is director Matteo Garrone’s ability and willingness to portray the state of things in an honest and glaringly brutal light. You won’t find any of the suger-coated ‘Sopranos’ approach in this movie. The gangsters are not human beings, but cruel creatures of greed and corruption with only the desire to maintain power and wealth on their minds. Garrone leaves no room for glorification of the gangster lifestyle, no redeeming philosophical meaning to living in the decrepit housing projects that are the setting for much of the movie and bludgeons us over the head with the lack of any silver lining to his stories. Garrone’s message is loud and clear.

All things considered, I am surprised that ‘Gomorrah’ did not get more Oscar attention, even if the pace wasn’t a finely honed as it could have been. I strongly recommend seeing this movie, but do so properly by giving yourself the time and attention needed to truly appreciate the accomplishments of ‘Gomorrah’ so that you’re not distracted by it’s relatively minor flaws. Also, be sure to pay attention at the end of the film during the credits, as some shocking truths are revealed about organized crime.

‘Gomarrah’ [NR] opens today in Saint Louis and is playing at the Tivoli Theatre.

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]