Gomorrah (2008)

My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 8

This one felt real to me—the culture, the power dynamics, the hierarchy of command. I believe this is what the Mafia really is.

There is no honor here. No sacred “Mafia code.” It all comes down to the bottom line: money, and no liability.

The difference between life and death is arbitrary. Early on, a 15-year-old is asked why he’s shaking—is he scared? “No,” he says. The older man is pointing a gun at his head. “Are you scared?” “No.”

Bang.

He’s dead. For no reason other than being too afraid to admit he was afraid. The next kid wears a bulletproof vest and survives. Why? Luck. You have to guess right. What will offend the Camorra? What will charm and delight them? The difference is negligible. The consequences are massive.

Director Matteo Garrone shows us the world of the Camorra through two central perspectives. The A story follows two kids raised in a world where the mob is king, trying to break into it. The B story centers on a high-end fashion tailor who makes no money because the syndicate exploits his skill. This second story is more compelling.

The kids are idiots. I would’ve preferred to see what this system does to the smart ones—but I fully believe kids like this exist. And they’re doomed.

Gomorra presents a world of crime that is consistently fascinating. Every scene feels like something I haven’t seen in a film before. For this type of movie, that’s miraculous. Beat for beat, it’s consistent in the psychology of its world-building. I’m not sure if Gomorra is a necessary film the way City of God was five years earlier—but it’s absolutely a purposeful one.

8.5/10