By Iain Blair

If you haven’t seen the new Italian film “Gomorrah” yet, you’re in for a real treat. This amazing movie — released by IFC Films — plays like a documentary about the notorious Italian mafia operation known as the Camorra, but it’s actually a series of stories based on real-life events in the crime-ridden areas around Naples, where the mafia maintains a strong grip. Based on the book Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano, the film is directed by Matteo Garrone who says, “The raw material I had to work with when shooting it was so visually powerful that I merely filmed it in as straightforward a way as possible.” The result has a strong documentary feel about it, and interestingly the DP, Marco Onorato, has shot several documentaries in the past. The result is a dark mirror image of “The Godfather’s” lush, operatic take on Italian crime families — riveting and haunting.

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