Fuck The Godfather. Fuck Goodfellas. Fuck The Sopranos. This is the best mafia story ever committed to celuloid, and believe me, I don't take these words lightly. Well, okay, maybe it's not better than Goodfellas. Gomorra has been hailed by many as the Italian City Of God, and that is a great understatement. It follows five different stories about people involved in the mafia from the old bosses to young cats sucked into the the life. Great direction and excellent cinematography, and unlike its American counterparts it touches on the U.S. complicity in the mob's activities (The Allied Forces basically created the five families after WWII as a way to keep order). Most people are completely unaware, but the violence in Naples right now is at its worst and I think the film definately differentiates between the mafia of the past and the present. Spoiler alert: the present is much worse. They also have their fingers in everything. EVERYTHING. The scene that stuck with me the most is when two boys just getting into the life "borrow" some guns from the mob and go shoot them in a river in their underwear.

“You do Coach bags, I do kush bags, you a douchebag, I’m the truth fag/share greedy, ya’ll niggas get scared easy, queer like multiple pairs of Air Yeezys” - Sean Price

LOL

www.myspace.com/exciteme83
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAXiSVKPa5o

you would

“You do Coach bags, I do kush bags, you a douchebag, I’m the truth fag/share greedy, ya’ll niggas get scared easy, queer like multiple pairs of Air Yeezys” - Sean Price

I really liked it. There's no reason why it shouldn't have gotten an Oscar nomination for best foreign film. It just proves that the academy is a bunch of pussies

I mean the fact that Werner Herzog JUST got his first oscar nomination this year and lost to the slightly better than medicore film Man on Wire is disgusting. Oldboy wasn't nominated, either was JCVD.

Damn I thought this post woulda gotten mad replies. I just saw this last night and it's easily the best movie of 2008. I've never jumped out of my seat during horror movies, let alone mafia movies, but this movie got me when dude pulled up next to the car on the bike and sprayed them with the uzi. I really like the cinematography and it showed a side of Italy I've never seen represented on film. You made the City of God comparison, which I think is fitting cause when I first saw those slums I thought of Rio not Italy.

"I hear there's rumors on the internets" - George W. Bush

Thought this was a great flick. Had me rethinking the Mafia in movies and television. Overwhelming at times for because of the realism and multiple story lines; actually could have been because I was tired or the way fools were capped in throughout the film. Not your ordinary gangster flick. Felt more like "Battle of Algiers" to me in the way it was shot and flow of the film. Some also have compared to "City of God" which is a good comparison .

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomorra_(film)
IMDB Gomorra page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929425/
Reviews: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929425/externalreviews

~C

I thought this movie was a complete bore. Yeah, the Mafia fucks people over. The foot soldiers get the worst of it. They are ruthless. And?

I'm supposed to be impressed that life as a criminal is hopeless?

This was basically a slice of life film showing how pointless and hopeless it all is. I guess if you are into that sort of thing you'll like it but I just spent over two hours watching something that was pointless, plotless, characterless, and a waste of time.

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NBA MOCK DRAFT #1 - https://thecourierclass.com/whole-shebang/2017/5/18/2017-nba-mock-draft-1-just-lotto-and-lotta-trades

not that they're "nice" people, but they're shown to have some redeeming or at least endearing qualities. this movie strips away any illusion of that.

I can see why people wouldn't get into this movie though.

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Mar-A-Lago delenda est

It stripped away the charisma by just not showing any of the bosses. For instance, an American version of the film would show the boss working his charms to get the kids to drive his trucks. In this film, the kids just show up.

I don't think it really ever gave us a good feel for any of the characters or their struggles. I just felt like the focus was on being bleak rather than actually showing how life was bleak through a certain character's eyes. The closest they came to that IMO was with the tailor.

I can understand not making the bosses like Tony Soprano but I honestly can't remember a single character out of the film (besides the Tailor).

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NBA MOCK DRAFT #1 - https://thecourierclass.com/whole-shebang/2017/5/18/2017-nba-mock-draft-1-just-lotto-and-lotta-trades

>It stripped away the charisma by just not showing any of the
>bosses. For instance, an American version of the film would
>show the boss working his charms to get the kids to drive his
>trucks. In this film, the kids just show up.

because the boss doesn't need to work his charms to get the kids to drive the trucks. if they showed a scene like that it would've been a glitzed up Americanized version of reality & would ring false in this setting.


>I don't think it really ever gave us a good feel for any of
>the characters or their struggles. I just felt like the focus
>was on being bleak rather than actually showing how life was
>bleak through a certain character's eyes. The closest they
>came to that IMO was with the tailor.
>
>I can understand not making the bosses like Tony Soprano but I
>honestly can't remember a single character out of the film
>(besides the Tailor).

I would say the tailor does an excellent job of giving a feel for his character's struggles, which is driven home especially well in his last scene at the truckstop. also the money runner guy, dude was just trying to do his job and found himself stuck in the middle between the two warring sides & tried to find a way out, only to realize that there was none. also the young kid with the soccer jerseys, he just wanted to be down with what seemed like what everyone else around him was doing, but didn't realize what that would cost until it was too late to turn back. and if you can't even remember the two punk teenagers who wanted to be Tony Montana I don't know what to tell you.


but i understand your point. the film largely shows alot of bleakness & mundane everyday shit. so I can understand not really feeling it. I mean it's not as compelling as Goodfellas or anything. but I imagine that's what the reality is actually like, and I thought it did a pretty good job of portraying that.

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Mar-A-Lago delenda est

>because the boss doesn't need to work his charms to get the
>kids to drive the trucks. if they showed a scene like that it
>would've been a glitzed up Americanized version of reality &
>would ring false in this setting.

So what did he do? He just kidnapped a bunch of kids? No, he went over, asked who wants to make money and became a hero to those little kids. Americanized versions gloss over most of the bad stuff but this film completely erased any hint of even a remotely accessible side.

If I was making that scene, I'd start with the boss asking some kids "Who wants to make some money?" (seems like he could be a decent guy), then we see he puts them to work on heavy machinery (Shady), and then we see why he did it (which shows the guy is a heartless bastard).

You show both sides of the boss, how he can seem like a savior but is really a devil. This film just showed one side of it and I think that rings as hollow as just showing a mob boss as a nice guy who wants to help the neighborhood.

> also the money
>runner guy, dude was just trying to do his job and found
>himself stuck in the middle between the two warring sides &
>tried to find a way out, only to realize that there was none.
>also the young kid with the soccer jerseys, he just wanted to
>be down with what seemed like what everyone else around him
>was doing, but didn't realize what that would cost until it
>was too late to turn back.

Personally, those are two stories I have no sympathy for. Anyone who gets involved in obviously illegal shit and then is like "Oh shit, I didn't know..." I can't stand that. THAT'S the shit I think gets glossed over in films too much.

One reason City of God was so good was that they had Rocket trying to stay out of it and Knockout Ned also trying to stay free but finally getting mixed up in it all. I just can't feel bad for a moneyrunner or a kid who is old enough to know better who gets involved because everyone else is doing it.

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NBA MOCK DRAFT #1 - https://thecourierclass.com/whole-shebang/2017/5/18/2017-nba-mock-draft-1-just-lotto-and-lotta-trades

>So what did he do? He just kidnapped a bunch of kids? No, he
>went over, asked who wants to make money and became a hero to
>those little kids.

that's pretty evident I think, there's really no need to show that on-screen.

>Americanized versions gloss over most of
>the bad stuff but this film completely erased any hint of even
>a remotely accessible side.

nah, it showed him as being pretty affable with the young guy working with him at first like when they went to Venice, and with that guy's father at the airport, and at the bedside of the old man who I guess was his boss or a higher-up in the organization or whatever. he showed an accessible side, he didn't just come off as a monster like you are saying.


>If I was making that scene, I'd start with the boss asking
>some kids "Who wants to make some money?" (seems like he could
>be a decent guy), then we see he puts them to work on heavy
>machinery (Shady), and then we see why he did it (which shows
>the guy is a heartless bastard).

I don't see the need to show all that really.

>You show both sides of the boss, how he can seem like a savior
>but is really a devil. This film just showed one side of it
>and I think that rings as hollow as just showing a mob boss as
>a nice guy who wants to help the neighborhood.

I had no problem with the way he was portrayed. to portray him seeming like a savior but then turning out to be the devil seems kinda cliche to me.


>Personally, those are two stories I have no sympathy for.
>Anyone who gets involved in obviously illegal shit and then is
>like "Oh shit, I didn't know..." I can't stand that. THAT'S
>the shit I think gets glossed over in films too much.

the money runner guy wasn't portrayed like that as innocent going in, things just escalated beyond his control and left him trapped in the middle with no way out. and the kid was like 13 years old, seems pretty cold to judge him that harshly.


>One reason City of God was so good was that they had Rocket
>trying to stay out of it and Knockout Ned also trying to stay
>free but finally getting mixed up in it all. I just can't feel
>bad for a moneyrunner or a kid who is old enough to know
>better who gets involved because everyone else is doing it.

I don't think the movie is asking you to feel bad for the money runner guy really, it's just showing how much of a no-win situation he's in. but if you can't feel for the kid at all that seems pretty harsh, yeah he should've known better but I don't think he could've forseen where it would lead to him being forced to set up that woman to be killed like that, especially since that was apparently a new line being crossed. and if you can't feel bad for the tailor I don't know what to tell you.

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Mar-A-Lago delenda est

the film was a disappointment. the book is great, but this movie has been done before, and done better.

Has it hit Netflix yet?

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If life is stupendous one cannot also demand that it should be easy. - Robert Musil

doubt it's on Netflix yet.

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Mar-A-Lago delenda est

>cinematography, and unlike its American counterparts it
>touches on the U.S. complicity in the mob's activities (The
>Allied Forces basically created the five families after WWII
>as a way to keep order).

wat


also the Camorra is a separate organization from the Mafia/LCN.

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Mar-A-Lago delenda est

I was mainly referring to the fact that the Camarra crime family is actually funding the World Trade Center reconstruction.

“You do Coach bags, I do kush bags, you a douchebag, I’m the truth fag/share greedy, ya’ll niggas get scared easy, queer like multiple pairs of Air Yeezys” - Sean Price

for some odd reason

There is a sense of inevitability and "foreboding" from the start, and I was fine with that... I mean, the point was made (granted, over 2 hours and 16 minutes) that the grip that this crew has on every single facet of this society is inescapable... and I dunno what else you could do with that information but make everyone aware of it, I suppose...

I admit to being completely bored with the waste management and garment dude stories... the movie just dragged for me whenever those characters were on the screen... but I thought the other tales were solid... and like I said, I liked the fact that there was an ominous feel to the whole thing, that whatever self-interests these people had would eventually be wiped out by the long arm of the Camorra...

Interesting flick. I'ma check it out again soon and see if it plays a little faster than it did the first time...
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missed it in the theather

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I saw it in Santa Monica, though, and it's also in Los Feliz
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i will see if it is on demand and get it

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i liked the lack of glitz.... i liked that they showed how diversified the camorra's portofolio is....

i watched a dubbed french version though... i'd like 2 see one with subtitles so i can hear what the characters sound like...

not better than goodfellas imo but very well done... anybody read the book?

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i will not let finite disappointment undermine infinite hope
- Cory Booker

Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win
- Gary Lineker

a great deal, but I have a mixed reaction. This was one of my most anticipated films of the year.

Subject-/info-wise, it's great. I don't think the director felt like he had anything new to say about organized crime and society, but rather the only new thing about the film was the notion of introducing the Camorra to people who don't know about them and how it is in Naples. I don't hold it against him or the film. I don't particularly care if artists have new things to say anyway; if they do, it's a major plus, if they don't, it's not a negative.

Aesthetically, wasn't impressed by it. The great Leslie Shatz did the sound design and nothing registered with me as particularly memorable. Though, in an interview, the director noted that he didn't want the sound design to stand out. Some nice compositions here and there, but I didn't find it as visually striking as some people did. But I barely remember anything from the park shootout which according to the director had his favorite shot of the film.

Narrative-/plot-wise, while watching it, it felt like it lacked the certain type of rhythm and tempo that most people expect from a well-plotted or well-scripted film. While watching it, it feels like there's no narrative momentum (at times it felt like an assemblage of footage rather than the classical narrative film), but after the film, I was thinking about the different plots and I guess there was a narrative drive there albeit of the episodic variety. So, it's weird: my reaction to the film depends on the point-of-view (i.e., lukewarm reaction while watching it; a more positive reaction when thinking about the film in retrospect). What's sort of weird is that some of my favorite films feel even more loosely plotted and slower than Gomorra, but in those cases, I enjoyed them while not so much with Gomorra.

Did you guys know that the boss of the Scarface boys' neighborhood is a real-life Camorra boss and he's currently locked up? Also, the throat guy is a gangster from another clan.

Another bit of info that added to my appreciation of the film is that the people in the neighborhoods welcomed the filming and, for example, a drug dealer told the director how drug deals really went down and stuff. So I guess there's more documentary touches in the film.

Even though this was maybe my most underwhelming movie experience of the decade, I'm still eager to read what folks thought of it.

I know it's cool/hip to co-sign this film as the shit...

but it isn't mind-blowing...seriously, it isn't...

fuck the Sopranos?...Goodfellas?...

Get...the...fuck...outta...here.