Gomorrah (2008)

Set in the Naples region of Italy, the film follows five separate stories about people whose lives are part of or affected by the "Camorra", a powerful crime syndicate with legitimate ties. A 13 year old delivery boy (Salvatore Abruzzese) is adopted by a gang and forced to betray innocent people. Two whacked out punks (Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone) obsessed with De Palma's SCARFACE act out their mob fantasies with dire consequences. A tailor's (Salvatore Cantalupo) attempt to earn extra pocket money costs him dearly. A courier (Gianfelice Imparato) who delivers mob money finds himself in the middle of a gang war and an uncertain future. A young man (Carmine Paternoster) must face his own conscience while working under a corrupt businessman (Toni Servillo). Winner of the Grand Prix at the 2008 Cannes film festival, Matteo Garrone's film is unsettling and disturbing. Unlike the gangster films of Scorsese and Coppola, the film doesn't seem to have an attraction to its subject but rather a cold and clinical eye at the horror of the long arm of organized crime whose fingers are dipped in our every day life from the clothes we wear to our garbage dumps. The film is overly long and the storyline about the idiot punks could have been eliminated entirely. It's trite and we know exactly how it will end up and it does. Other than that, highly recommended.