Despite introductory literatures at various film festivals describing this Cannes Grand Prix Award winner as having 5 stories "woven" together, the stories are quite separate, except for the common theme of the criminal world under the influence of the notorious Mafia Camorra gang. Does it mean that this film is not good? Hardly, if you have the correct expectations. With its 5 separate stories taken from the explosively revealing book by Roberto Saviano (who purportedly had to go into hiding after its publication), Gomorrah is best viewed as a dramatised documentary. As such, it is an excellent piece of cinematic work.
What you notice almost right away, and continuously for the entire 130 minutes of the film, is that the camera never stops moving, a polar opposite to Ozu's, for those who have seen the Japanese master's work. But don't let me mislead you into thinking that this is one of those dizzy, hand-held camera affairs. The movement of the camera, while noticeable, is never distracting. What it does is to take the audience into the various locations in Naples with an amazing sense of reality. In addition to the everyday activities of the proliferation of characters, the film does not omit showing things such as a yawn from an entirely inconsequential and random figure. This is as close to having the audience as an on-site POV observer as you can get.
A brief capsule of the five stories follow. A, adolescent boy's initiation into the underworld, starting with understandable enthusiasm, soon plunges into disillusionment. A middle-age go-between man finds that his influence is fast dissipating in the constantly shifting politics of the underworld. A young businessman has a rude awakening to the business of toxic waste disposal. Two listless, clueless young men on a wild rampage in the underworld find out, too late, that they are not invincible. A tailor with close connections to the Mafia, moonlighting for a lucrative reward from the rivalling garment factory operated by immigrant Chinese, finds out that the situation is too hot for him to handle.
No more needs to be said. This is the sort of film that needs to be seen to appreciate. Only one thing to remember: this is not "The Godfather" nor has it ever intended to be.
By Harry T. Yung (harry_tk_yung@yahoo.com) from Hong Kong
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