NYFF: Gomorrah

See Naples die in this adaptation of Roberto Saviano's bestseller about the organized crime clans collectively known as Camorra. Tracing five stories through the city's miserable projects and toxic waste dumps, director Matteo Garrone dramatizes a world that seems even more hopeless and prescribed by drugs and violence than The Wire's Baltimore.

A kid joins a clan, a tailor makes deals on the side, a college graduate takes a dubious job, a stolid gang accountant is caught between warring sides, and two punks steal a cache of automatic weapons -- not one of these tales takes an unexpected turn, but the gritty reality of this Italian inferno -- winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes -- is utterly absorbing. [posted by Jürgen] ***

More about Gomorrah from Fernando F. Croce, Nick Schager, and Boyd van Hoeij. Screening information.