The familiarity of most of the plot lines could limit its popularity.
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11/21/08
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Gomorrah (2009)
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Reviews Counted:118
Fresh:107
Rotten:11
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Portraying organised crime with an unflinching realism, this gritty and searing Italian crime masterpiece pulls no punches.
Theatrical Release:Feb 13, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $1,453,147
Synopsis: Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah is a dense, sprawling exposé of the corruption plaguing the communities of Naples and Caserta in modern-day Italy. The all-powerful Camorra syndicate influences the lives... [More]
Starring: Salvatore Abruzzese, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Toni Servillo
Director: Matteo Garrone
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Reviews for Gomorrah
A look at the sprawling and incredibly powerful Camorra crime family in Italy shows mostly the lurid details of conventional crime. The value of the film lies in exposing crime that is not business as usual.
11/17/08
Gomorrah is a thoroughly engaging, well directed crime drama with a strong script and terrific performances. Highly recommended.
10/10/08
This may not be a perfect movie but it is memorable, angry at what it finds but determined not to produce either lily-white heroes or colourful villains.
10/10/08
The remorseless, glamourless scenes – their businesslike realism, their shrugging fatalism, their workaday brutality – come closer than most films to identifying and depicting the “banality of evil”.
10/10/08
Consequently, there is not enough time to get close enough to any of the characters. But if your interest in crime clans extends beyond big guns, this is a must-see.
10/10/08
Easily the finest of the week's films, though it's unlikely to be showing anywhere near you, is Gomorrah, a warts-and-all Italian drama about the threat posed to civilisation by organised crime in Naples and beyond.
10/10/08
A searing, epic vision of a city in the grip of gangland terror. The multi-stranded plot takes some unpacking, but the characters, camerawork and unflinching realism compel like a gun to the head. The best gangster saga since City Of God.
10/10/08
Blame TV’s magisterial The Wire if Gomorrah seems superficial. But whereas TV has multiple episodes to penetrate the heart of its story, Matteo and co are to be commended for this all-encompassing overview of organised crime.
10/10/08
But his prowling observational technique makes it pungent and frightening in scene after scene, an entry-pass to some obscure circle of hell. All in all, not an easy night out, but not an easy one to forget, either.
10/10/08
Gomorrah is a powerful example of that thrilling current of energy which right now is lighting up Italian cinema.
10/10/08
Great films change the way we think about cinema. A masterpiece can alter our perception of life. Matteo Garrone’s startling film, Gomorrah, about the criminal underworld in Naples, is one of these rare movies.
10/10/08
If you want to see a gangster film that isn't all about stylized violence, then Gomorrah is for you. More thoughtful than most gangland films, its attempt to show how organized crime has infiltrated every level of society is impressive.
10/10/08
A focused, multi-stranded drama about how ordinary lives and ambitions are impinged upon in a society where the parameters of business, justice and everyday life are heavily defined and warped by the influence of organised crime.
10/10/08
A sombre, slow, but well-paced study of organised crime in urban Naples that leaves a very grim taste in the mouth.
10/10/08
Deservedly winning a major award at Cannes Fest, Garrone's multi-layered chronicle of crime as big business and way of life is a bleak, gripping, powerful and realistic saga that goes beyond American and Brazilian films like The Godfather or City of God.
09/29/08
The frightening people and the story they enact are defined by a camera technique which makes them flesh-and-blood, not larger-than-life spectacle.
09/26/08
A gritty drama based on a bestselling Italian novel about organized crime that focuses on the lives of five different players in the System.
09/22/08
Sidesteps grandiose gestures and statements in favor of a grimly matter-of-fact chronicle of how pervasive the Mafia influence has become.
09/20/08
Latest News for Gomorrah
May 24, 2009:
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report - Critics Pick Their Awards Favourites
With the Cannes Film Festival winding down this weekend, talk is now turning to who will win the Palme d'Or this evening. We tracked down several journalists covering the fest... More...
February 12, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Friday the 13th Feels Too Familiar
This week at the movies, we've got creepy campers (Friday the 13th, starring Jared Padalecki and Danielle Panabaker), conspicuous consumption (Confessions of a Shopaholic,... More...
January 26, 2009:
Exclusive: Gomorrah red-band clip and poster!
The Mafia stages a routine presence in cinema, but few of their movies are drawing the strong praise like Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah is. Italy's official entry for the 2008... More...
January 08, 2009:
Broadcast Film Critics Name Critics' Choice Winners
The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were given on January 8, 2009, to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking. A list of nominees follows below, with winners in bold: More...
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