14 March 2009

E negozio solamente

Gomorra

Crit

OK, look, I love The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II, but the critics who are calling this the best film ever about organized crime have this point: Coppola's films are, among many other things, romances, but there isn't anything romanticized in this gritty, naturalistic masterpiece. The four or five intertwined stories of these people play no González Iñárritu-esque narrative games. Instead, we simply see people in the grip--some more willingly than others--of the Neapolitan Camorra, and how they cope. (Spoiler alert: not well, mostly.)

What makes this even more compelling and hard to watch in early 2009 (though I'm sure this won't be the case a year from now) is the clarity with which the film portrays everything as an economic choice. And when your economy is in the shitter, the other choices are limited, and the dangerous choices become more attractive. Not that that could happen here.

No comments: