GOMORRAH (ITALIAN)
The Story:
Based on the best-selling non-fiction book by Roberto Saviano, the film features five stories set in and around Naples, where the residents' lives are dominated by organised crime outfit, the Camorra.
Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato) is a timid middleman, who distributes money to the families of imprisoned clan members. When making a delivery, he is ambushed by two angry clan members with an obvious grudge against their fellows; there is a feud within the clan. Wanting to save his own skin, he later offers to defect to their side. They explain to him their families were murdered by the clan and want retribution, and that they have no need for a money-carrier. Instead, Ciro leads them to the location where he is given the money for distribution. The pair raid the place, killing everyone but Ciro, and take the money. Ciro quietly walks off to an uncertain future.
Totò (Niolo Manta) is a 13-year-old grocery delivery boy who observes some drug dealers ditching some drugs and a gun when running from the police. He returns the items to the gang, who take him in. His initiation involves him being shot whilst wearing a bulletproof vest, as a test of courage. Soon after he is accepted into the gang, families in the neighborhood that are perceived to be disloyal receive a warning to move out or suffer violence; Toto's fellow gang members received similar threats. Later, whilst hanging out with his gang in the streets, one of his gang is killed in a drive-by. The gang decides to stand their ground and exact violent retribution by selecting a woman, Maria, as their next victim, because her son Simone has joined a secessionist gang. Toto, who was friends with Simone and who has delivered groceries to Maria, is forced to lure her out of her apartment, where his comrades gun her down.
Roberto (Carmine Paternoster) is a graduate who works in toxic waste management. His boss Franco (Toni Servillo) illegally dumps the waste in disused quarries. During an operation, a drum of toxic chemicals is accidentally spilled on a driver. Franco refuses to call an ambulance, and when the workers refuse to handle the waste, Franco instead hires children to drive the trucks. When Franco decides to increase his illegal dumping, Roberto can no longer contain his disgust and quits.
Pasquale (Gianfelice Imparato) is a haute couture tailor who takes a night-job training Chinese garment workers. Because they are competing with Camorra-controlled firms, the Chinese drive him to and from work in the trunk of their car. His secret work is discovered nonetheless, and on a ride home two gunmen on a scooter open fire on the car. He survives and leaves town, taking a job as a truck driver. At a truck stop, he sees Scarlett Johansson on TV wearing one of his dresses.
Marco (Marco Macor) and Ciro (Ciro Petrone) are two cocky wannabe gangsters who spy Camorra gangsters hiding a stash of weapons. They steal the weapons and amuse themselves by firing off rounds by the riverbank. One day, out of money, they use their guns to rob a video arcade. They spend their money at a strip club, where the angry gangsters find them and threaten to kill them if they don't return the weapons within a day. The pair prove stubborn, so one of the gangsters tries a different tactic: he approaches them in a bar with an offer of €10,000 if they return the weapons and conduct a murder. They accept the offer, which turns out to be a trap, as they are ambushed and killed at the location of their supposed target.
Starring:
Salvatore Abruzzese, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Toni Servillo, Carmine Paternoster, Salvatore Cantalupo,Gigio Morra, Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone
Directed By:
Matteo Garrone
Release:
2009
Watch the Trailer:
