MovieChat Forums > Gomorrah (2016) Discussion > Not impressed (SPOILERS)

Not impressed (SPOILERS)

posted 7 years ago by strangebedfellows
8 replies | jump to latest

A predictable series that is obviously going to invite comparisons with "The Godfather" "Once upon a time in America" and many others. Unfortunately there is no comparison.
I have watched the first two series and I am not really enjoying it all that much. I knew instantly when the dog was introduced that it was only there to be killed. This is an unpleasant trait in European films - especially Scandinavian.
I didn't feel any sympathy for any of the characters.
I would also like to go to Honduras where you can buy a brain cell and an attitude and a freaky haircut !!
Note to scriptwriters - just because people call out "Hey Genny - look how skinny you are" does not actually mean that we believe them!! He just wore tighter clothing and he got even fatter towards the end. I didn't think this part was acted very well- his expression never changed from start to finish.
I also got fed up with the face to face nose touching confrontations between Ciro and others. Was there any need for that?
And as for the cross eyed doodle-ally Don - well - he just could not be taken seriously!
Also, I've never seen so many saggy bottoms in all my life - what is it with jeans in Naples?
And those bikes! I mean I expected Harley Davidsons for big hard men - instead I got Noddies.!
I have watched it all now and it hasn't really left an impression - unlike "The Godfather" however bad the characters were you somehow cared about what happened to some of them - in this series there wasn't one sympathetic character which made it very one note.

[–] paolo-severini-1 7 years ago

Do you know the story is set in Italy, right? Nobody in Italy drives Harley Davidsons, and certainly not in a city center. These young criminals need motorbikes that are small, agile and fast, and not too flashy; these are work tools for them.
You should not compare too much Gomorrah and the Godfather: the latter was an Hollywood movie made for the American market, depicting characters living in the United States. It was a movie about Italian mafia, but it was very American in many ways.
Gomorrah is a fiction originally written for the Italian TV, inspired by an Italian book written by a famous Italian writer. It shows the Naples area and Italy very, very faithfully. This is really like young people dress in these areas. It was not written to please American audiences - at all - in fact the choice of not having not even one "sympathetic" character was made purposely.

[–] strangebedfellows 7 years ago

Thank you for responding.
I plead guilty to being somewhat seduced by American movies !!!
I was being a bit facetious about the bikes - but the jeans - seriously - why are they so badly fitting?
I believe that the choice to have no sympathetic characters was deliberate - he certainly succeeded there!
I think I read somewhere that the author was in hiding due to having a contract taken out on him - I suppose this is just hype for the book though.

[–] paolo-severini-1 7 years ago

Yes, deliberately all characters are negative characters because there is no good, no hope, no way out and no salvation in that world. There is only evil.

The story of Roberto Saviano, the author of the original book, is very sad indeed. Saviano wrote the homonym book almost 11 years ago. The book is not fiction and not exactly an essay, it depicts with a novelist language a few real stories from the world of Camorra (the italian name for the criminal organisations from Naples).

Unfortunately for Saviano, the book was very successful, and a few of the boss/dons depicted in the book took offence and threatened to kill him. And to understand how powerful mafias are in Italy, just think that the most obvious threat was made by one of the dons' lawyers during a trial!!!
After these threats Saviano had to go into hiding. He is still a public figure, he writes articles and books and go on tv sometimes, but he is followed 24x7 by a police escort that never leaves him alone. He is still alive but he lost most of his life and he will never be a free man again.
And just to understand how little grateful Italians are, just think that the mayor of Naples just yesterday accused Saviano of making money speaking ill of his city, and this only because a few days ago in the center of Naples a gang started shooting against street vendors who refused to pay protection money, they hit a little girl walking with her parents there by accident (not killing her luckily) and Saviano wrote an article to denounce the episode.

Because, this is the bad part, Gomorrah is not really fiction. Yes, the guy who goes to Honduras and returns turned into a ruthless killer is just a character... but the reality of some of those suburbs of Naples is very similar to what is in the movies. This is way it is so powerful, IMHO.

[–] strangebedfellows 7 years ago

Thank you for responding - and in such an interesting and informative manner. It is very frightening that an elected official seems to be on the side of the criminal fraternity. I suppose that is what fear does.

[–] lv8888 7 years ago

My wife and I are enjoying the series quite a bit, especially Season Two and how in-depth it's getting into each character.

Definitely a sad no-way-out but death type of world, but utterly fascinating.

I do think Patrizia is the one likable character.

[–] dean-griffiths 7 years ago

I agree to a certain extent with Patrizia.

However I do feel her likeability started to wane a bit when she started to play Wifey.

It will be interesting to see if they keep her around for Season 3. My guess is if they do then I can only see he getting more embroiled with the mob and ending up in an early grave.

[–] lv8888 7 years ago

I spoke too soon...we're 10 episodes in to Season 2 and she's starting to pick up the traits they all have.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

If you cut with a knife long enough it will cut you