Gomorra

Gomorra is one of those sprawling multi-character, multi-story socio-political fables that reflect a certain reality. This reality is that of the organized crime of the mafia in Italy. It shows how corrosive this element is in society by showing the microcosm of the slums where drugs and violence rule the day. Furthermore, it shows how on a larger more seemingly legitimate scale-it helps corporations illegally dump toxic waste. Perhaps my favorite story was about a tailor who moonlights teaching some Chinese how to sew haute couture. He is found out and he Chinese are murdered and the tailor is injured and quits his trade to drive trucks. At one of the truck stops he sees a starlet wearing one of his dresses at the Academy Awards and he smiles. There are several realistic performances in this gritty documentary-like. The film ends by quoting statistics about the damage caused by the mafia in Italy-this film was an adaptation of a book.