493 Gomorrah

[manicsounds]

There are a few new interviews here not on the Optimum I believe, and here is a case where I actually prefer the Optimum artwork. The Criterion makes it looks like an Italian Godzilla film.

[ccfixx]

I guess Criterion could definitely do worse, but it's not like their release is adding anything here.

Yeah, I have to wonder now if the UK blu-ray import's Italian DTS-HD MA 5.1 track was artificially created since Criterion is announcing an "uncompressed stereo" soundtrack? Anyone know?

CC

[headacheboy]

I'm quite jazzed for this. I live in the middle of nowhere and the film was one of several that are shown simultaneously on cable as it plays in the theatre. It never made it to any local theatre and I've learned that if you pay for a On Demand film on cable chances are strong it will be a pan and scan version. So I opted out of seeing it at home. When I learned that it wasn't going to be released in the US (or so I was led to believe) I figured this would be just another in a long list of films I'd never get the chance to see. Now, it's coming thanks to Criterion and I couldn't be happier. Whether it is great, bad or somewhere in between doesn't bother me, it's simply a film I've been quite anxious to see. Checking out Criterion's webpage about an hour ago and seeing this offered up made me one happy boy.

[Narshty]

Surprised there's not even a booklet essay from Scorsese, given his public sponsoring of the film's US release.

[Oedipax]

Yuck. I'm all for Criterion getting into more contemporary world cinema, but why this? I was supremely unimpressed by the film, given all the critical praise. Maybe I'm missing something, but based on the description it's the kind of film I'd be predisposed to at least appreciate, if not outright embrace as a favorite. The fact that the film is already so readily available also makes this a bit irritating.

[gubbelsj]

Back in April of this year, I posted a review of Gomorrah on my (largely non-film) blog after seeing it at a San Diego movie house. I thought I'd include the review below in its entirety for those curious. It seems as if many on the board either disliked or were not impressed by Gomorrah, but I found it to be a pretty amazing offering. I'm quite excited to see it on the release schedule.

........................................................

The other night, I had the privilege of viewing a film that will likely see only a limited run in this country - Italian director Matteo Garrone's 2008 crime drama Gomorra. The film's title refers to the ancient Italian organized crime society camorra, a mafia-like group that operates primarily in the city of Naples and the region of Campania. Little-known in this country and rarely portrayed in film (unlike the over-abundance of mafia pictures in both the movies and television), the camorra is less centralized than their Sicilian brothers to the south, yet operate along similar principles - political control, drug trafficking, racketeering, extortion, and assassination. And their reach is wide - a note at film's end informs the audience that the camorra has been responsible for over 4,000 deaths in just the last three years.

The film is based on journalist Roberto Saviano's book Gomorrah, the release of which forced him to seek 24-hour police protection from the Italian government. Saviano's book was a work of investigative journalism, and while the film adaptation is clearly a work of narrative fiction, there is an inescapable documentary feel to the proceedings. This is partly due to Garrone's use of local Neapolitans and non-actors from the region of Campania (in fact, three cast members were later arrested for their own camorra connections). The lack of soundtrack music and a heavy reliance on jittery hand-held camerawork also lends Gomorrah an unshakable feel of authenticity. And Garrone's use of shockingly bland urban backdrops and hideously designed public housing tracts firmly grounds the film in the actual neighborhoods in which the crime organization holds sway (his incorporation of the hulking and nightmarish Vele di Sampi apartment compound, a textbook case of urban development gone wrong, was a masterstroke of location shooting). But it's the film's refusal to fall victim to cinema's long glorification of Italian organized crime that makes Gomorrah relatively unique.

The film has been compared to Martin Scorsese's 1973 semi-debut Mean Streets, in that both pictures serve to deflate current notions or portrayals of organized crime. Mean Streets can definitely be seen as a corrective to The Godfather, in which Scorsese's petty thieves and bickering, Catholic guilt-plagued goons are a world away from Francis Ford Coppola's almost classical presentation of honor and blood. But while certain characters in Gomorrah reflect organized crime's obsession with their own image and legacy (two young wanna be's bustle around Naples ridiculously quoting lines from Scarface), this film is not merely a corrective to The Sopranos. Rather, it's a clear-eyed and politically outraged denunciation of an unattractive, honorless and violent subculture that severely impacts the lives of millions of Italians (literally, as a major subplot about improper dumping of hazardous waste makes clear). The critic Armond White, assuming his usual role as passionate devil's advocate, claims the film "conveys no revulsion" to the showcased acts or individuals, but he's nearly alone in this regard, and I can't see the film offering anything but revulsion for nearly every action that takes place within the two-hour span. In fact, I see much more Italian neo-realism and the haunting isolation of Antonioni than any nod to Scorsese-style engagement in Gomorrah. Nearly every violent scene (and for a crime film, there actually aren't that many, especially by American standards) comes off as tawdry and clinical, with none of the protracted ballet-of-death setpieces those raised on a steady diet of Quentin Tarantino might expect. No melodramatic speeches on honor or family crop up - there are no shots of a plump mama baking ziti or dons stroking kittens. There is a detached gaze to this film, as if every scene was being overheard or accidentally observed. And by linking various related and unrelated characters through a disjointed narrative, Garrone manages to offer a sustained portrait of the various levels in which the camorra impact Neapolitan life.

This is powerful cinema, and a remarkable recent addition to the canon of Italian film (and a worthy successor to earlier Italian works of political cinema, such as Francesco Rosi's Salvatore Giuliano, Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers, and works by the Taviani brothers). What Gomorrah shares with these movies is an unflinching look at the mundane realities behind corruption, repression and violence. And yet, this is not only a work of stripped-down documentation. There are amazingly composed shots throughout the film that struck me as particularly masterful. The closing shot, framed distantly and held for an almost unbearable amount of time, is one of those moments of absolute perfection so rarely found in cinema, in which the entire narrative becomes reflected through one action yet manages to remain organic, authentic and deeply moving. It's typical of the film that the final moments are among the most beautiful and most repugnant.

So, no surprise that Gomorrah, clearly one of the strongest releases of 2008, was completely overlooked by the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Picture - Garrone's grim portrait of the streets and poverty puts the lie to Slumdog Millionare's Horatio Alger-styled happy ending. Here's hoping the film gets an eventual second life in this country on home video and the rental market.

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[knives]

gubbelsj, the Kensington, Right?

Personally I didn't like the movie (failed to do its one promise of de-romanticizing violence for me) but I'm fine with its inclusion. It's the first R1 release (and considering IFC that means a lot) and it will probbly become cannon, if just cannon light in a few years. Just too bad I'll have to wait longer for the superior Revanche though.

[mikkelmark]

It actually got quite an amount of awards at the European film award something (supposed to be Oscars for the europeans), the big winner that night.
Think one of the reasons that the author of the book is under police guard, is that he pissed in a swimming pool owned by a Gomorrah boss.

I saw it as a decent movie, but I dont really understand why its compared to Mean Streets, which has kinda like a goofy undertone and music combined with slowmotion, that Gomorrah has neither of. In Mean Streets theres tons of love for the characters, which I see none of in Gomorrah that is more playing on realism instead of humor. I can see how it can be compared to Battle of Algiers in term of the realism, but id still say that Battle of Algiers is much better, not that I think they fucked anything up in terms of the style in Gomorrah, Battle of Algiers just has a much stronger source.

I guess its a different gangster movie, because it plays on realism and doesnt romanticises its characters or the gangster business.

[Svevan]

Thought the scene where

Spoiler

two cars crash into a sculpture garden destroying what are presumably ancient works of art

was a bit too on the nose for me. I also felt that more than one of the strands of the multi-narrative were incomplete and over-moralized. Enjoyed parts of the film, however; very bleak, paced, at times emotionally true. Didn't stand out to me as an overwhelming success, though I'd like the chance to see it again.

[knives]

doesnt romanticises its characters or the gangster business.

Okay, will people please stop saying this.To me not romanticizing the business means taking away the cool factor and maybe even injecting fear into the proceedings. Anvilicious moralizing that does not make. Actually a few of the scenes came off as cool to me. It didn't even reach Godfather de-romanticizing, at least in that movie is was frightened of the violence and what it was used to accomplish. Hell, Janus' own Revanche did a better job by turning the gangster life into absolute paranoia when that wasn't even much of an objective.
Gomorrah failed to succeed on its one promise.

[oldsheperd]

Godfather? De-Romanticized?! Godfather is a highly romanticized film!

[knives]

That was the point I was making. When I feel less romanced by the Godfather you shouldn't be able to make any claims in the other direction.

[oldsheperd]

Okay, Knives. I think I get what you're saying. In essence in Gommorrah's attempt to de-romanicize the mob life it has basically gone in the opposite direction unintentionally.

[knives]

Yep
The ending, for example, was very vicariously pleasing because of how unlikeable those two were.
Actually thinking it over it was very funny in an uber dry Reefer Madness sort of way.

[jt]

About the only part of this film I cared about was when they used the kid to lure the housewife outside.
I was very disappointed with this. Overlong, aimless and pretty uninteresting for the most part.

I can't for the life of me work out why it was so critically lauded, City of God it ain't...

[James]

About the only part of this film I cared about was when they used the kid to lure the housewife outside.
I was very disappointed with this. Overlong, aimless and pretty uninteresting for the most part.

I can't for the life of me work out why it was so critically lauded, City of God it ain't...

I haven't seen City of God, but I mostly agree. I think it was pretty average, and not much more than your generic run-of-the-mil gangster movie. I don't remember the scene that you mention, partially because I saw the movie last year, but it also has to do with the fact that it's just generally pretty unmemorable like that. Certainly not worthy of a Criterion release, but hey, they gotta make money somehow.

[Tom Hagen]

Godfather? De-Romanticized?! Godfather is a highly romanticized film!

What The Godfather movies de-romanticize is not organized crime, but rather the "legitimate" institutions of business, media, politics, and the law, and indeed the notion of "America" itself.

But in all fairness, is there really anything romanticized about Michael Corelone -- or the choices he has made -- by the time we get to Part II?

[oldsheperd]

I'm pretty intrigued by this release. There are only a few Italian Mafia films I've seen so I'd like to see the view on the Mafia from Italy's point of view for once.
To me, the Godfather films are highly romanticized. They're almost operatic in their structure.

[James]

They're almost operatic in their structure.

And I don't think that's a bad thing. The idea of organized crime has always struck me as something that has such a precise formal nature — we have separate families, "Godfathers", and people who have to figure out how they are going to watch each others' backs, and so on and so fourth — so it would seem to me that it's no surprise that the idea of the movies are theatrical. It's a movie that does a precise job at capturing the portrait of a group of mobsters. It's been a long time since I've seen the movies, but the thing that probably struck me the most about them is the precise, theatrical and indeed segmented structure.

But still, I don't necessarily see how just because something is theatrical, it's automatically a romanticized piece of material. If anything, The Godfather portrays organized crime as a very dark and dangerous world, and also as sinister as it is. Gomorrah comes close to capturing this feel at times, but never does. The latter movie only succeeds when it focuses its camera on the world around the crimes, in which all the unnecessary street warfare occurs.

[oldsheperd]

I'm not dissing the Godfather films at all.(Part 3 doesn't need any more dissing since it's an acknowledged piece of shit)
I guess the way I interpret the series as being romanticized is that it's very hyper-real, very dramatic and Shakesperean. If you look at a film like Goodfellas, this film is highly romaticized in the beginning, but I believe that is Scorsese's point in the second half. For all the romantic tendencies about being a gangster soon enough the piper comes calling and you gotta pay up for the notions and that lifestyle.
The Godfather is idealized in it's mise-en-scene. Now that doesn't distract from it's brilliance but the film is definitely grounded in the realm of fantasy rather than reality.

[swo17]

I think we need to agree on a definition of romanticized. knives equates this with the "cool factor," but I don't think that's quite right. If anything, I might call it more of an "epic factor." I agree with oldshepherd--the Godfather films are about as romanticized as they come. It's not that they make Michael Corleone's actions seem all rosy, but that they elevate him to be larger than life. In fact, I'm almost inclined to say that a good alternate definition of romanticized is anything that happens in the Godfather films. They're just told on such a grand scale, with, I think, a highly romantic score, well lit, and with some very big names attached (though granted, many of these people made their names with these films). These are storybook gangsters, the stuff of legend. By these criteria, Gomorrah didn't strike me as romanticized at all, though I could use another viewing of it.

[James]

I'm not dissing the Godfather films at all.(Part 3 doesn't need any more dissing since it's an acknowledged piece of shit)

It's been years since I've seen any of the movies, but I always saw them as one whole, so I could never single either of them (including Part 3) out, since it's all about one family. Obviously this logic is flawed since that'd be like saying any movies focused on the same characters are all on the same level, and this is why I need to revisit these some time.

I guess the way I interpret the series as being romanticized is that it's very hyper-real, very dramatic and Shakesperean. If you look at a film like Goodfellas, this film is highly romaticized in the beginning, but I believe that is Scorsese's point in the second half. For all the romantic tendencies about being a gangster soon enough the piper comes calling and you gotta pay up for the notions and that lifestyle.

I'd agree that GoodFellas is a romanticized portrayal of the mafia in how its portrayed in the eyes of the main character as a sort of salvation, but I didn't find the movie to be all that it's jazzed up to be. It's overlong, bland, and aside from the narrative structure itself, rather pointless thematically.

The Godfather is idealized in it's mise-en-scene. Now that doesn't distract from it's brilliance but the film is definitely grounded in the realm of fantasy rather than reality.

I probably wouldn't agree with this now, but I'd have to see it again. It felt like a very real movie to me when I saw it.

[oldsheperd]

GoodFellas is an indictment of the romanticized gangster life. This is why the first half and second half of the film are very different in their look. Because the narration is told through the main character we get to see what he sees. So in the first half we get to see all the glitz and glamour of the gangster life that drew him in but in the second half we also get to see the, to quote P.T. Anderson, "Long Way Down" as a result of that life.
I think a lot of both Godfather and GoodFellas has to do with both Coppola and Scorsese's personalities. Coppola is has a lot of high-brow Italian sensibilities like Verdi, Puccini, very high class, very regal. I think Scorsese has more of an affection for the lower-class, street scene type, hanging on the corner, Little Italy sensibilities.
I'm just really excited about Gomorrah. Like I mentioned before I want to see if there is a different take on the Mafia when a gangster picture is made through Italian(Not Italian-American eyes). It is pretty much fact that most of the Gangster in America pictures have an American(Italian-American, Irish-American, African-Amerrican, Jewish-America) bent to them. That's obvious. I have seen plenty of gagnster pictures from Hong-Kong, Japan and Britain among other places, but it's funny that I haven't seen very many from Italy.

[knives]

I think we need to agree on a definition of romanticized. knives equates this with the "cool factor," but I don't think that's quite right. If anything, I might call it more of an "epic factor." I agree with oldshepherd--the Godfather films are about as romanticized as they come. It's not that they make Michael Corleone's actions seem all rosy, but that they elevate him to be larger than life. In fact, I'm almost inclined to say that a good alternate definition of romanticized is anything that happens in the Godfather films. They're just told on such a grand scale, with, I think, a highly romantic score, well lit, and with some very big names attached (though granted, many of these people made their names with these films). These are storybook gangsters, the stuff of legend. By these criteria, Gomorrah didn't strike me as romanticized at all, though I could use another viewing of it.

By you definition I mostly agree with you. The Godfather makes its characters larger then life and they dance a three hour ballet. From that Gomorrah isn't very epic. All they characters are seen as bureaucrats or idiots. I think though that just means the film isn't epic in view, I don't think that is the whole of romanticism. The feeling of being romanced, and maybe throttled to enjoy the actions of the characters, has just as or more so an importance as epicness to the romanticism. In that case I would say Gomorrah is far more romanticized then The Godfather as I wasn't enjoying the actions of the characters, even if I enjoyed some of the characters it isn't completely removed from romanticism.
What the two things boil down to I suppose is that The Godfather is more a Operatic harsh film while Gomorrah is a real cool film. I'm sure there is more then enough people to fill either camp for enjoyment.

[GringoTex]

I rented this, as it's a "Blockbuster Exclusive" (certainly making this the most redundant Criterion release ever?) and was sorely disappointed. How many more gangster films do we have to see pay homage to De Palma's Scarface by repeating lines from it? Highly derivative and clumsily filmed. Which I guess makes it this year's La Haine.