Gomorra

The Little Theatre in ROC has uncomfortable seats. It borders on irritating watching a film here but on occasion it is the only game in town, so off I went to see Gomorrah. Damn if that film did not make me forget how painful it is to sit there or even that I needed to make a pit stop. The film was riveting from the start and even though I had some trouble following who was who and who hated who for whatever reason I was totally immersed. Matteo Garrone directed this story which tells five stories all involving the Camorra crime network in Naples. It is based on a book by Roberto Saviano. I was very struck by the opening sequence which takes place in a tanning salon. Garrone and his cinematographer, Marco Onorato, start right away with a camera style that is so intimate that the viewer becomes the third party in the room (or in this sequence in the tanning bed). They are able to sustain this perspective throughout the film to amazing effect. We are constantly at the shoulder or just over the shoulder of our various protagonists and anti-heroes. There is one chase sequence where we hover over the motorcycle stalking a car that redefines how film chases in terms of speed and perspective. The stories are all your basic mafia tales but the camera work and the actual filming within a large housing project change the tenor of the stories. The stories are now real and the outcomes vicious. I was fascinated by this housing complex. It is huge and multilayered with bridges and interiors reminiscent of a Marriott for crack addicts. Vast interiors join by bridges. In one camera shot the screen is filled with a wedding procession on a lower level while just one story up we see addicts buying doses. Each of the stories is compelling. The stakes are raised for each of the characters simply because of where they live and who they choose to do business with. Watching their choices play out through the various outcomes gives us a multilayered view of how influential a network of criminals can be in both a microcosm of society or big business.
Memorable moment: The two aspiring Scarfaces celebrating a heist to the sound of Italian pop music at the beach.