Gomorra

So far this semester, Gomorra has been my personal favorite film and genre we have viewed. I have always been a fan of the crime or mafia related films, and Gomorra portrays a side of crime families that I have never seen, and absolutely loved watching. It is action packed, and the low budget used, in my opinion, contributes to the film's strong sense of cinematic realism. While I was watching this movie I noticed that during this film, not only where there multiple narrations going on, but also a few different good examples of character development.
The character of Don Ciro, who was the soft-spoken middleman who worked for Comorra gangsters and delivered money to the families of imprisoned gang members. His character evolves throughout the film from being portrayed as a stiff Comorra gangster, to a traitor to the gang. He is approached by two rival gang members who threaten his life, and when they do so, in hopes of saving his own life, he tells them he will be an informant for them. At this point his character is fully developed, and with his mind made up he becomes the guy who turned his back on the Comorra. With Ciro's inside information the two rival gangsters rob a Comorra stash house, killing everyone but Ciro.
The second case of character development, is Toto. Toto is a young grocery delivery boy, who at first seems innocent and almost childish. Throughout the film, a couple things happen to Toto that develops his character from the original childish grocery boy, to a young member of the infamous Comorra . First he witnesses drug dealers throw their drugs and guns when police ambush them, and Toto sneaks over and recovers them, and then brought them back to the gangsters, who because of this take him under their wings. As a young boy, he was almost instantly lured to the lifestyle. The film gives a perfect visual example of character development in Toto's initiation into the gang scene, where he is willingly shot with a bullet-proof vest on as a test of honor and courage. He was at that moment transferred from the grocery boy to the gangster, and he seemed to be proud of himself for going through with it. In the following scenes, Toto lures a woman he delivers groceries to out of her house, where she is then gunned down by the Comorra.
These two examples of character development, and the many others I left out, all varied greatly, but ended at the same place. Gomorra did a wonderful job intertwining all the multiple narrations that were going on, and despite the way each one unfolded, the Comorra put pressure, as the film portrays, on every aspect of life in modern day Italy.

Works Cited

Metro, Gomorrah, 2010. Metroactive.com Accessed March 1,2010. (photo)
Gomorrah. Dir. Matteo Garrone. Perf. Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato. Fandango Films 2008.