After too many years I have finally seen an Italian film that doesn't make me feel regret for the old glories of our cinema (Fellini, Rossellini, etc.). Gomorra (obviously a pun on the name of the Neapolitan mafia, "camorra") is a terrible masterpiece--Yeats talked of a terrible beauty and here you are, this is it. Great direction, great stories (it's a multiple plot film), great acting. But--above all--here you have the sense of the landscape which has always been the hallmark of great Italian films (especially the attention to urban landscape that you have in Rossellini, Pasolini, De Sica). And Garrone managed to mix an almost neo-realistic approach with one of the most genuinely American film genres, the gangster movie.
The only problem is that Neaples and its hinterland (especially Caserta) are like that, and that is the country we live in, after all.
Another interesting feature of the film is the language. All characters speak in unadulterated Neapolitan and Casertan dialect, and that forced the director to put subtitles in the *Italian* edition of the film. It adds a lot to the estrangement you may feel, and to the sheer power of the film.
However, let me repeat it: this is on the same level of our classics of the 1940s and 1950s. And, after his stunning debut with L'imbalsamatore, Matteo Garrone has persuaded me he's the Next Big Thing in Italian cinema. (He was also helped by Saviano's book, though.)
The only problem is that Neaples and its hinterland (especially Caserta) are like that, and that is the country we live in, after all.
Another interesting feature of the film is the language. All characters speak in unadulterated Neapolitan and Casertan dialect, and that forced the director to put subtitles in the *Italian* edition of the film. It adds a lot to the estrangement you may feel, and to the sheer power of the film.
However, let me repeat it: this is on the same level of our classics of the 1940s and 1950s. And, after his stunning debut with L'imbalsamatore, Matteo Garrone has persuaded me he's the Next Big Thing in Italian cinema. (He was also helped by Saviano's book, though.)