mazolaman Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 I saw this film some time ago,then watched again over Christmas. Hardly "it's a wonderful life"! It is based in the Naples area of Italy,where the mafia gangs are known as the "camorrah". It represents a realistic view of how mafia work and the things they do,by following a few characters of differing societal levels,and their involvement with the camorrah. ie,a young lad,brought up in the awfull estates in Naples,where just about all of Europes heroin passes through. A tailor who struggles to earn a living,and rubs up against the camorrah, a couple of teenagers who want to become mafioso, a young man who takes ajob and slowly realises the disturbing results of his work, and an old man who is the money carrier for a gang. It displays the true crimes the Camorrah are invoved in,Drugs,Prostitution,protection,racketeering,illegal waste dumping etc. But it does this without the usual "goodfellas"romanticism,showing how fithy and truly horrible the mobsters are. Based on the book by Roberto Saviano,who allegedly was originally part of the camorrah. He now lives with 24hr police protection,as he has had several threats and attempts on his life. Disturbing yet compulsive viewing.
thechenman Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 Sounds interesting. Thanks for the heads up...I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.
CBL Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 Read the book about two years ago, really eye opening and pretty graphic! Wonder what the movie is like, I've seen it around in the shops but never really thought about watching it again. Should be pretty good though!
RonLA Posted December 31, 2010 Posted December 31, 2010 I saw this film some time ago,then watched again over Christmas.Hardly "it's a wonderful life"! It is based in the Naples area of Italy,where the mafia gangs are known as the "camorrah". It represents a realistic view of how mafia work and the things they do,by following a few characters of differing societal levels,and their involvement with the camorrah. ie,a young lad,brought up in the awfull estates in Naples,where just about all of Europes heroin passes through. A tailor who struggles to earn a living,and rubs up against the camorrah, a couple of teenagers who want to become mafioso, a young man who takes ajob and slowly realises the disturbing results of his work, and an old man who is the money carrier for a gang. It displays the true crimes the Camorrah are invoved in,Drugs,Prostitution,protection,racketeering,illegal waste dumping etc. But it does this without the usual "goodfellas"romanticism,showing how fithy and truly horrible the mobsters are. Based on the book by Roberto Saviano,who allegedly was originally part of the camorrah. He now lives with 24hr police protection,as he has had several threats and attempts on his life. Disturbing yet compulsive viewing. I saw that, a very good film, I had no idea that place existed. I believe that was a Martin Scorsese film; you know it will be entertaining.
mazolaman Posted January 1, 2011 Author Posted January 1, 2011 No,it was directed by Matteo Garronne,an up and coming director. His decision was a brave one,as all who worked on it were putting themselves at risk. I think only a couple of actors are established,as no-one would touch it. I doubt very much whether Scorcese would touch it,for obvious risks to his health.This is also what makes it great,it is not a slick eulogy to the mafia,it is a truthfull,documentary style film.
bassman Posted January 24, 2011 Posted January 24, 2011 Damn! I missed this during it's brief run in the theatre & no local video stores have it.
First Lady Posted January 24, 2011 Posted January 24, 2011 You can pick up the DVD on Amazon :-) I am getting the book to read on my flight over the States :-)
Peter11216 Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 I liked this film, but had a bit of a tough time with it, because there is no plot and little character development. It provides a kind of snapshot of life as it relates to organized crime. After it was over, and I thought about it for a while, I appreciated it more.
finecigar Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 This is one of my all-time favourite films. I was actually fortunate for a special premiere feature for this piece, in Italy. The people I was with were very pleased, as was I. That was back in 2008, as this is no new to most of Europe. It is now just seeming to be popular through word of the wrong mouth. But I do add, the Criterion released Blu-ray is simply beautiful. I bought that for America and its packaging alone is veladi. But as you would all assume, the movie is just only a glimpse or dive into the world of the "not-so-organized" crime families... They are of trash through the eyes of me and ones I know who have roughly experienced the areas. There is no dignity and no respect. The future for anything organized is shown through this film, it is going to deep destruction. Some families do just not know how to delegate, use, or even enjoy their temporary power.
Mr. Japan Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 The writer of the book Gomorra is living from many years in anonymity, under daily treat of his life as Napoli "camorra mafia" want to kill him as he disclosed too much to the public. But at same time he goes on TV to openly attack all italian mafia and bad politicians. There are rumors that Saviano want to enter leftist political party against Berlusconi. It's a real shame that such things happen not more than 50 kilometers from my house :-((
Bunker1028 Posted February 13, 2011 Posted February 13, 2011 The writer of the book Gomorra is living from many years in anonymity, under daily treat of his life as Napoli "camorra mafia" want to kill him as he disclosed too much to the public.But at same time he goes on TV to openly attack all italian mafia and bad politicians. There are rumors that Saviano want to enter leftist political party against Berlusconi. It's a real shame that such things happen not more than 50 kilometers from my house :-(( Watched it last nite based on these posts. Very good movie, thanks
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