Change Your Image
zaxonco
Reviews
Gomorra (2008)
Gomorrah (2008)
Filmed in 2008, Gomorrah is a gangster movie based on a book written by Roberto Saviano
with the same title. As the title of the film indicates, the story alludes to the biblical city of
Gomorrah, which, along with the city of Sodom, had been cited in different ancient holy books of
the Middle East, whether in Judaic texts, Christian sources, or even in Islamic traditions.
According to the Book of Genesis, these mythical cities were situated on the land of the River
Jordan, and since the very beginning of their existence, they have become a metaphor for two
sinful, cursed lands raising the wrath of God, and throughout history, symbolizing the territories
of people habituated to the Seven Cardinal Sins.
Bearing in mind the metaphorical meaning of Gomorrah, the story we are given in this film is
about the horrifying suburban life of Naples and the ruling power of the Camorra mafia based in
the city. This is a city where brutal gangster mobs have a long-rooted history, ruling over the
districts, and taking control of all the drug-dealing, illegal trafficking, and smuggling of
contraband weapons and ammunition.
The film tells the interwoven story of five characters, each dealing with the Camorra mafia in
their own way. One story is dedicated to a money distributor who is having trouble with the
families of imprisoned clan members dwelling in a communal deteriorated residential complex,
where the most violent crimes in the city occur. The second story is about a teenage grocery
delivery-boy who incidentally comes across some gun smugglers and, by showing his
courageous temperament, becomes initiated into the gang and gets involved in their criminal
activities. Then, in parallel, comes the story of a tailor working illegally with a Chinese
underground factory, while we follow the story of the head of a company running an illegal
business of toxic waste management. The last one is the story of two teenage thugs on whom
the film focuses more; two vagabonds who wander around aimlessly and, during one of their
"expeditions," get a chance to spy on the activities of Camorra's gangsters, finding out about
their hiding place of a stash of weapons. Through a gun robbery, they earn a considerable
amount of money and go on to spend their time on heavy drugs and strip clubs. While enjoying
their new life, they get caught by the mobsters who work for Camorra and finally lose their lives.
Although the storytelling style of the film is akin to that of a gangster movie, the director
ingeniously employs an unexpected cinematic form to set up the narrative, enhancing its
effectiveness and acceptability. Instead of adhering to the clichéd framework of genres, the
filmmaker has opted for a cinematic expression style that could be considered a new form of
post-neorealism, continuing the neorealist tradition in Italian cinema. This style is rarely seen in
gangster narratives, and it allocates the story and its characters in a realistic setting with
concrete situations. The usage of slang language in the daily life of a low-class society, realistic
acting and blocking, and avoiding artificially beautified lighting and camerawork, among other
techniques, creates an atmosphere that serves the spirit of the story, revealing subtle details of
a multilayered criminal society's affairs and dispositions. All the characters presented in the film
represent a bigger image - the monstrous image of a suburban city, implying the mythical city of
Gomorrah as a catalyst that ties all the fragmented pieces of the story together.
Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach (1968)
The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968)
The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, directed by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, is a
chef-d'oeuvre that transcends traditional categorizations of cinema. This film is a unique blend
of period feature film, biopic, documentary/experimental film-making, and TV movies, offering
viewers a new horizon to the future of media productions. Despite receiving bitter criticism from
the majority of film critics, the film's formalistic approach, inspired by the musical forms of Bach's
music presented in the film (such as the exemplary fugue-like structure of a scene), redefines all
clichéd definitions of film categories, making it a timeless classic that has left a lasting
impression on many progressive filmmakers of the next generation.
One of the most striking aspects of the film is its release date, which coincided with the political
turmoil of 1968. This timing links the apolitical facade of the film to its contemporaneous political
context and transforms it into a reactionary political artwork, making it an emblematic example
of German post-war cinema. However, the film's significant presentation of every "documented"
document in the film, including Bach's manuscripts, and the portrayal of Gustav Leonhard, a
legendary harpsichordist of his own right, as the lead character who personifies Bach, turn the
film into a magnificent "musical document" of all times, even if it is historically inaccurate.
In The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, Straub and Huillet have pushed the boundaries of
period feature film, biopic, docufiction, and educational TV programs (like that of Rossellini's)
into an integrated, multifaceted arthouse film. They have masterfully managed to offer a new
horizon to the future of media productions and paved the way for more complex intellectual free-
forms, bringing different cinematic principles together. This achievement is perhaps reminiscent
of the Nietzschean idea of compositum mixtum, which suggests the unification of incongruent
elements to create a new and harmonious whole.
In conclusion, The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach is a film that is not only a masterpiece of
its time but also an example of how different forms of art can be seamlessly blended together to
create a new artistic form. Its impact on the future of media productions is undeniable, and it
remains a timeless classic that should be appreciated for years to come.