Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		5.0

Gomorrah Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 27, 2009

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and selected to represent Italy at this year’s Oscars, Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah” (2008) tells an unsettling story about organized crime in Naples. The film is based on Roberto Saviano’s bestselling book. Courtesy of UK-based Optimum Home Entertainment.

Soon to be killed!

There is nothing glitzy about Gomorrah. If you’ve only heard that it is a film about the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra, and are expecting that it might be a wild and entertaining ride where the mafiosi talk, walk, and shoot as seen in the films of Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma, then you are in for a disappointment of paramount proportions. In Matteo Garrone’s film people lose their lives so quickly, and in such a brutal fashion, that the overwhelming majority of it feels simply like an uncensored documentary feature suitable only for foreign TV stations.

Set in the slums of Scampia, Gomorrah recreates the five highly controversial stories Roberto Saviani’s book chronicles. The first story follows the deeds of Ciro (Ciro Petrone) and Marco (Marco Macor), two teenagers fantasizing about making it big on their own. The second story is about an old “carrier”, Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato, Il Divo), who pays the weekly salaries of those who have remained faithful to the Camorra. The third story introduces a business-savvy gangster (Toni Servillo, The Consequences of Love) who generates revenue for the Camorra through a waste products business. The fourth story is about a 13-year-old boy, Toto (Salvatore Abruzzese), who desperately tries to earn the respect of the local crime bosses. The fifth and final story follows the downfall of a gifted designer (Salvatore Cantalupo, Appassionate) facing a difficult dilemma.

The manner in which the five stories of Gomorrah are linked may prove a bit too confusing for some viewers. They overlap each other without following a specific pattern, and at times it is difficult to tell exactly what takes place on the screen. Even when certain pieces of the puzzle begin falling in place, a lot remains unclear and difficult to comprehend.

The murkiness in this film, however, is intentional. Gomorrah was filmed in the manner described above precisely so that it could relate to the viewer how incredibly difficult it is for outsiders to understand the structural hierarchy of the Neapolitan mafia. Unsurprisingly, there are rules and codes the mafiosi follow in the film that remain an enigma even after the end credits roll.

What Gomorrah makes perfectly clear, however, is that the Neapolitan mafia has completely changed an entire region, and perhaps country. In Scampia, the biggest drug-pushing locality in the world, with daily sales of approximately 500,000 Euro per clan, no one could survive without the blessing of the underworld bosses. You think this is an exaggeration? Consider this – Roberto Saviano, the author of Gomorrah, was intentionally removed from the script for the film (in the book, he is actually a character of importance), and to this day remains under 24-hour police protection program.

Finally, Gommorah would have never achieved the level of authenticity it reveals without Matteo Garrone’s eye for detail. The locations in the film, as seen in the extras provided on the Blu-ray release, are absolutely breathtaking. The Italian director shot Gomorrah inside the slums of Scampia where the mafia controls practically every corner, and the images his camera captured are indeed impossible to forget. Simply put, this is the most realistic non-documentary crime feature an Italian director has ever filmed!

Gomorrah Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC, and granted a 1080p transfer Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of UK-based distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

Italy's official Oscar entry has received a solid treatment. The print for Gomorrah is sharp, vivid, and exceptionally gritty. As intended, the color-scheme is wild. From the drug-ridden slumps of Scampia and Secondigliano, to the dirty backstreets and empty beaches where plenty of the action takes place, to the shady locales where the mafiosi are seen enjoying themselves, Gomorrah looks exceptional (I certainly had a very difficult time finding two scenes in this film that looked alike - everything is shot in such a wild fashion that the sense of paranoia Gomorrah instills really got to me). Furthermore, contrast is practically impossible to address, and I could only guess how certain scenes were meant to look. Still, it seems fairly obvious that the AVC-encoded transfer is very, very strong. Edge-enhancement and macroblocking are also impossible to address as there are countless examples in Gomorrah where the image is intentionally manipulated. This being said, it is fairly easy to determine that the transfer has not been DNR-altered as the film's grain structure is perfectly intact. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing debris, specks, or dirt. (Note: This Blu-ray disc is Region-B "locked". Therefore, you will not be able to play it on your Region-A PS3 or SA).

Gomorrah Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Optimum Home Entertainment have provided an Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track for the Blu-ray release of Gomorrah. Just about everything with this mix screams perfection – the dialog is crystal clear and easy to follow (though given the specific dialect that is spoken in Gomorrah as well as the wild nature of the narrative one really has to be familiar with the Italian South to fully understand what is being said). Furthermore, there is plenty of activity in the rear channels, but do not expect the polished type of audio mixing a Hollywood blockbuster would reveal. Sudden gun shots, screams, and chatter is what Gomorrah offers in abundance, and the overwhelming majority of the enhancements the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track secures simply add to the sense of paranoia I mentioned in the synopsis. This being said, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings. Finally, Optimum Releasing have provided optional English subtitles that are placed inside the film frame.

Gomorrah Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Optimum Home Entertainment have done a terrific job of securing the extras from the Italian release of Gomorrah. In addition to the original theatrical trailer (the Cannes pilot), on this Blu-ray disc you will also find "Gomorrah – 5 Stories", a rather long making of that mixes raw footage from the five stories the film follows with some behind the scenes footage where Matteo Garrone and his team are seen in Scampia. Next is a gallery with five deleted scenes: Toto, Don Ciro, Franco, Pasquale, and Ciro e Marco. Each scene comes with English subtitles. Finally, there are two interviews – one with Roberto Saviano, author of the book "Gomorrah", the other with actors Toni Servillo, Salvatore Cantalupo, and Gianfelice Imparato. The two interviews are spectacular. Mr. Saviano provides a terrific dissection of the gravely serious situation in Naples and why the government has failed to neutralize the mafia. Frankly, some of the data he reveals is unbelievable. The second interview is also very informative, though the majority of the thoughts the actors share are of rather generic nature. (Note: All of the extras are in standard-def PAL).

Gomorrah Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A knock-out of a film! Gomorrah is the best Italian film I have seen in the last ten years! The Blu-ray disc produced by Optimum Home Entertainment is fantastic – the video and audio are terrific, and the supplemental materials are as fascinating as the actual film is. I urge you to add this disc to your libraries. Very Highly Recommended.