GOMORRA

Written by Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso and Roberto Saviano
Directed by Matteo Garrone
Starring Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale and Salvatore Cantalupo


There are two things I can assert to you right here and now. I have never been to Naples and I don’t know the first thing about how the mafia works there. I presume it must work pretty well considering Italy is the birthplace for the age old organization known as the mob and this presumption would be based on having seen a couple of mob movies here and there. My having no Italian heritage whatsoever means that everything I know about the mafia, I know from the movies. Given that Hollywood likes to sensationalize here and there for effect, I should probably take what I’ve learned with a grain of salt. I mean, do people actually say things like, “He’ll be sleeping with the fishes”? Well, regardless of whether everything I think I know is a fat lie or not, I do know now that I know nothing at all after having seen GOMORRA


GOMORRA, a 2008 Italian export that earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, has made its way across the ocean to North America and is certain to set a modern day benchmark for all mafia films to come. This will happen for two reasons. The first is the provocative and shockingly stark portrayal of today’s mob. The second is the gritty reality that director, Matteo Garrone infuses into every single scene in his seamless film. Combining such desolate reality in the script with such intense imagery makes for a visceral experience unlike any mafia film I’ve seen before. It all felt so real, so believable and that was made the experience so effective. The reality that Garrone gives us, based on Roberto Saviano’s intensely controversial novel, is so bleak that its hard to imagine anything good in the world after seeing it.


GOMORRA tells the story of the Camorra, a group supposedly responsible for the murders of 4000 people in the last thirty years of its existence. Those 4000 people were all individuals at one point and the exposing the plight of the individual within the huddled masses is one of Garrone’s strongest suits. GOMORRA focuses on five separate stories to make its point. Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato) makes sure the family members of imprisoned members of his clan are financially taken care of until it becomes uncertain who is in charge. Toto (Salvatore Abruzzese) is thirteen and thinks he’s ready for the man’s world. Marco and Ciro (Marco Macor and Ciro Petrone) prove Toto wrong as they are slightly older, want to run their own racket but only prove to be a nuisance. Roberto (Carmine Patemoster) graduates from University and tries the mob on as his first real job. And finally, Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupe) tries to make a little on the side after the mob has taken care of him for years. Though they never connect, they are all under the same gun.


The title itself condemns Naples and its inhabitants as doomed to their inevitable fate of self-destruction, GOMORRA being that infamous sister city of Sodom. Garrone isn’t kidding either. At no point does it seem like there is any way for the people who call this mess their home to rise above their own situations. Yet, at no point in time does Garrone imply that the mob actually knows what they’re doing either. Perhaps then, it is the mafia that will one day self-destruct. And if that glorious day ever comes, hopefully Garrone will be around to take the inherent rawness of the collapse and turn into as brave a film as this one.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: In Your Face, Jonas Brothers!

Last year around this time, a certain teen queen unleashed her “Best of Both Worlds” concert to theatres in 3D. Having been billed as an exclusive one-week engagement, little girls everywhere came out in droves to catch Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus do her split personality thing up on screen to the tune of over $30 million. A year has passed and the smart folks at Disney decided to get another teen sensation back on the screen in 3D, only to find that audiences would opt to watch a man in grandma drag go to jail instead.


No, THE JONAS BROTHERS: 3D CONCERT EXPERIENCE could not topple TYLER PERRY’S MADEA GOES TO JAIL at the box office this weekend. This is even after Perry’s most successful film to date suffered a 60% drop over last week. Worse yet, the young Jonas siblings opened on almost twice the screens as Montana/Cyrus did and made less than half the cash. There was no urgency to catch the show opening weekend with some looming empty threat that the film would only be playing for a week, mind you. (It should be noted that as soon as Montana brought in the green last year, the one-week engagement was extended indefinitely.) It was a solid showing but it seems to me that there must have been a lot of little girls who just decided to stay home. Besides, the Jonas Brothers that big and in your face, 3D styles, would be pretty frightening, I think. For a boy band, they’re really not that cute … or profitable apparently.


Last week’s winner of 8 Oscars, including Best Picture, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, saw its already impressive gross improve another 45% this week. Albeit not my pick for Best Picture of the year, this is clearly the people’s favorite. In its 16th week in theatres, it shows no signs of stopping. It is Fox Searchlight’s first Best Picture winner and it is now their widest release to date. The Danny Boyle film has plenty more market internationally to conquer, home video sales still ahead and it will certainly surpass THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON to become the highest grossing Best Picture nominee from this year.


A couple of other big Oscar winners saw serious gains this week too. Both added hundreds of screens to capitalize on their Oscar visibility and both saw promising results well into their domestic runs. Audience favorite, Kate Winslet, took home the Best Actress Oscar for THE READER and the Weinstein Company sleeper hit saw its grosses increase 10% over last week for a grand total of just over $27 million. Not bad for a movie that seemed doomed to fall away into obscurity until it garnered five surprise Oscar nods. Focus Features’ MILK earned Oscars for Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black) and Best Actor (Sean Penn) did even better, increasing 37% over last week and bringing its cume over $30 million 14 weeks into its domestic run. Both other Best Picture nominees, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON and FROST/NIXON saw its returns dwindle this week as neither garnered any serious screen time during the telecast.


You don’t have to be an Oscar winner to perform well in limited release though. Foreign Language Oscar losers, THE CLASS and WALTZ WITH BASHIR continued to see their grosses grow despite missing out on the crown. And in completely non-Oscar related news, Joaquin Phoenix’s supposedly last film, TWO LOVERS, tacked on about 60 screens and soared over 500% and critical darling, GOMORRA, improved over 140% over last week with an average that would rival any title in the Top 10. You don’t want to mess with the GORMORRA boys.

NEXT WEEK: Everyone will be watching to see if THE WATCHMEN is worth all of this overblown hype as it opens on over 3500 screens. Given that there are no other wide releases expected next weekend, I guess people think it’s going to be big. The question now is how big but my question is rather why anyone cares at all.

Source: Box Office Mojo