Gomorrah

According to director Matteo Garrone's deadly, disturbing drama Gomorrah, life as a gangster in the slums of Italy is a dangerous and brutal type of existence. While that may seem like an obvious observation, it is the chaotic manner through which Gomorrah makes its point that causes the movie to be so memorable. Pulling in plot strings from every corner of this crumbling world, Garrone's movie paints a sprawling canvas that shows a gang war at ground level.

The stories range from two pathetic kids who dream of ruling the area as top gangsters to a businessman who makes his money by illegally dumping toxic waste in empty quarries. There is also the tale of a man whose job involves handling money for the gangsters and the story of a tailor who gets in over his head when he tries to share secrets. That this list of plot threads is still just a snapshot of the big picture is a testament to how complicated and altogether ambitious Gomorrah is.

Gomorrah repeats the same themes of greed, loyalty and power that are so prevalent in classic gangster movies like The Godfather trilogy and Goodfellas, but this depiction of the gangster lifestyle is drenched in dirt and grime. The gangsters of Gomorrah do not live in mansions, nor do they dress in expensive suits and have women hanging off their arms. Instead, they occupy the same slums as the addicts they sell their drugs to and crowd together in tight areas to discuss plans and count their money.

There is certainly nothing glamorous about this particular gangster world. The grandiosity of movies like Scarface has been replaced by a world in decrepit decay. Gomorrah's sun-soaked setting of Naples is a sad and haunting place where the area's history stretches into the background like a diminishing shadow. The buildings that serve as apartments and dilapidated parking garages are like archaic monuments paying tribute to a once-beautiful civilization.

The architecture is breathtaking in its reflected promise of a prosperous past, but it is also a startling reminder of the crumbling present. Many of the structures appear to be ruins one step away from becoming rubble. The physical corrosion and empty spaces mirror the destructive lifestyles of the people who inhabit this world. While the setting itself is enough to conjure some striking imagery, it is Marco Onorato's photography that gives Gomorrah such an exciting visual imagination. The camera snakes through hallways and hugs walls as it slowly peers around corners. This approach helps create a palpable sense of fear, which soaks into nearly every frame of the movie.

Together, Onorato and Garonne are able to put us in the shoes of the characters, which ultimately becomes the movie's greatest strength. Everyone in Gomorrah must be routinely aware of their surroundings and of the danger that lurks around the corner. The sense of paranoia in the movie becomes so thick that it is almost tangible. The sickly feeling of never being safe oozes off the screen and gives each scene an unpredictable quality. Eventually, each character's every footstep is laced with the knowing fear that it may be their last.

As the multiple plotlines crumple and curl under the sun, the voyeuristic viewing pleasure begins to wane. The characters and their conjoined arcs are never engaging enough to make the movie's dramatic impact hit us on a personal level. The fates of the characters are relatively predictable in the context of the story, even if the execution of onscreen violence is sufficiently terrifying. But while the various storylines occasionally feel like a laundry list of the different types of players (big and small) in this gangster world, rather than a collection of stories about fully realized characters, the movie still provides a gripping journey through an unnerving maze.

Gomorrah does not redefine the gangster genre, but the movie provides a visceral jolt of energy with its harrowing exploration of a dark and dangerous underworld. The concept and basic story elements may feel a little stale at times, but Gomorrah more than makes up for its shortcomings by plunging us headfirst into the nightmare of its hidden reality. In this world, there is no escape, no refuge, no hope, and Garonne fully understands how to uniquely communicate that despair with precision and power.