Gomorrah

[Butcher]

Apparently this film won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes and the hype machine is calling it "the greatest mob movie ever" -- which would be quite a feat if you're stacking it up against GoodFellas and The Godfather. Anyway, it's an Italian film and is opening stateside in February. I'm very intrigued...

Gomorrah -- official site

[rok]

I have already seen it. Damnit, if I were still working downtown I'd give you a copy of it asap. I got hold of a DVD rip with subtitles and it's excellent quality. It's a good movie based on a book written by someone with actual mob ties (some of the cast were found to be criminals as well), so it has the feel of a pseudo-documentary. It's essentially 4 seemingly unrelated stories that show how the local mob in Naples influences everyday life. It isn't really comparable to any American mob movie, at all, so it's important to go into it without any preconceptions of what a movie like this is supposed to be. It's kind of hard to follow in many respects, and the actors are mostly amateurs, but I still think it's worth seeing. It's very much a Euro indie movie, so don't expect a lot of violence, memorable lines, any ideas of redemption or much in terms of comic relief that are common in the great mob movies. I can't stress enough how heavy on realism this movie is. Anyway, if you don't get a chance to see it, I'll meet up for lunch in the city soon and give you a copy.

Anyway I'd give it 4/5 stars.

[Ace]

I preferred Soddom.

[Mikey]

I saw the trailer for it. Doesn't look too bad.

[rok]

I got an email from IFC channel which states that it will be available On-Demand Feb 18th on cable. Wide theater release on Feb 27th. A lot more movies are going this route lately, especially indie films.