Gomorrah

I’d feel less certain of my reaction to this film if it weren’t shared by the three people I watched it with. What is the fuss all about? Compared to The Wire, Matteo Garrone’s film just does not deliver on its promise of revealing the interconnected truth of the culture of organized crime. Juggling loosely linked stories of the Camorra, the Neopolitan equivalent of the Mafia, the film offers no point of access through character, story, or wit. Some moments stand out, but for the most part it is a punishing slog. Grim reality is all well and good, but why not go all the way and offer a documentary framework, rather than placing the story in context just with explanatory aftertitles. As in The Wire, we see street-corner drug-dealing, life in the projects (here a truly bizarre structure), dubious “waste management” practices, container port smuggling and mass death, crime syndicate incursions upon straight business such as couture, feral kids taking on the color of their environment (even underage drivers of huge vehicles), with people getting blown away as an everyday occurrence. What the film didn’t give me was any reason to pay attention or to care. If you have that going in, maybe you will find the movie up to the awards and acclaim it has achieved. (2009, IFC/OD, n.) *6* (MC-86.)