The English language trailer is here.
I know that a lot of people hate subtitled movies, but if you like gangster flicks it is really, really worth watching Gomorra, an Italian film based on the book
"Gomorrah" by Roberto Saviano, an author now in hiding because of the threats on his life as a result, and who went undercover to research it. Several of the cast and crew have since been arrested for Camorra involvement.
It's a fictionalised portrayal of a few weeks in the middle of a feud that erupted in 2004 and 2005 between rival Camorra gangs in Naples, while interweaving stories about other Camorra members, some of which never touch upon the other characters or tales in the film, which reflects the loose clan structure of the organisation, compared to the hierarchical nature of other Italian crime organisations. The Camorra are basically the Neapolitan version of the Mafia. If you want to know what to expect, imagine the Mafia after a few years on cocaine and steroids: brutal, paranoid and impulsive.
The feeling you get is that most of those involved are weary of the constant danger that their situations have placed them in, although the influence of the Hollywood version of their lives can be seen upon the younger characters. The death-toll is Shakespearean, to an extent that I found hard to believe, but a bit of research on Wikipedia showed me that, compared to the real feud, it was actually quite restrained.
Still, I found the film ultimately surprisingly hopeful. You're not
manipulated as you might expect: every time I saw something touching about a character, or someone tried to get out, I half expected them to be shot within minutes (the WWII "Gee, Sarge, she's a looker alright" moment), but those cliches are not called upon. Instead, peoples' choices, moral or otherwise, generally affect how their stories play out, for better or for worse.
Interestingly, the film simply doesn't use mood music, which adds to the sense of being there that the director manages to evoke. In a few shots, music is playing, but Massive Attack's soundtrack is limited to the credits. Also, while there are hand-held tracking shots, there is no flashy shakicam: the director is telling a story and - while he may want you to feel in the scene - he obviously does not want you to miss the nuances. Having been to Naples, I thought the director did wonderfully to evoke the claustrophobia and threat, the heat and bustle (almost the smell!) of the city without making the film in any way a chore.
At times, it felt like a hyper-realistic version of the original French Connection movie. At others, like a less emotionally-manipulative City of God. It is a million miles from Goodfellas or The Godfather, but I was delighted.