GOMORRAH
Image: Based on the megaselling non-fiction novel by Roberto Saviano, who has been in police protection as a result since 2006, and directed by Matteo Garrone, Gomorrah surprises with its subtlety and nuanced, multilayered stories, all circling around the organised crime rings of Naples and Caserta. (AB)
With a name heaving brimstone and God’s holy fury, an opening sequence staged in an eerily UV lit-beauty salon in which the blood of a shoot-out looms ominously, you would expect this mafia movie to pack some overblown dramatic punches. Based on the megaselling non-fiction novel by Roberto Saviano, who has been in police protection as a result since 2006, and directed by Matteo Garrone, Gomorrah surprises with its subtlety and nuanced, multilayered stories, all circling around the organised crime rings of Naples and Caserta. There’s 13-year-old Toto desperate to ‘grow up’ (no matter the cost), Scarface wannabes Marco and Ciro, gentle tailor Pasquale selling out to the Chinese, and many more woven in. But with so many stories, the message becomes as muddied as the grottoes the clan dumps toxic waste into. Perhaps Gomorrah would’ve benefited from some of the straight-shooting its beginning promises.
