About Entertaining Criminals
Post 1022:
There’s nothing more lame and pretentious than having to read subtitles when you’re supposed to be watching a show or movie. That’s what I used to think, anyway. I still think it, actually, because I’m an intractable old chunk of coal. However, I’ve got to make an exception for Gomorrah, an Italian TV series that I’ve never talked about on the blog because…subtitles. Figured I wouldn’t want to recommend something that makes you read when all you want to do is—not read.
So, hopefully we’re past the subtitles deal. This show is consistently great. I watched the first two seasons some time ago but now have picked it back up. Slow. Very visual. They introduce new characters without telling you why, only to reward your patience with great payoffs.
It’s dreary. It’s brooding. And though it’s fiction and thus all lies and smoke and mirrors, it rings true. Before this show, I thought of Italy as nothing but lovely old architecture and rolling Tuscan hills with those cute terraces. Good looking women and scooters and narrow streets. Wine. Women. Song in the form of aching mandolins.
Gomorrah paints a different picture. This is the criminal world of Napoli, a corrupt place not that far from Rome that I’ll admit I knew very little about. Apparently there’s some—let’s call them municipal problems in Napoli. Big drug gangs. Murder. Political malpractice. So basically it’s like any city, just amped up to eleven. You get to see the lack of opportunity for the poor people in Europe that Americans probably don’t think about, and you get to see the lack of solutions being offered. It’s a pretty sad and bleak setting. Everything is falling apart and rundown. Not a lot of Da Vinci and Michelangelo, is what I’m saying.
Anyway, I recommend the show for what I think is a logical reason. If you’re patient enough to read subtitles, you’re probably the type who’s patient enough to stick with the sometimes slow pace. For long stretches there are points where you wonder what the hell is going on, but as I said, the writers and actors reward you for your patience. There is a point to everything, and though it’s not perfect, I like some of the subtle motivations of these characters. They aren’t good people for the most part, but you can’t help but have a level of sympathy for some of them.
It’s not a reinvention of the crime-family genre. It’s just one of the better examples. The Ciro character is awesome, the guy underneath the bosses who sees the angles and uses his wits to stay just a little ahead in a very dangerous game. These boys aren’t messing around. It’s violent and gritty, but I think it’s probably one of the only serious dramas currently worth watching. Of course I’m not watching everything so that’s not a valid statement. I’ll make it anyway… and anyway, try it out. Not for kids or for those that don’t like violence and guys in tight leather jackets.
Cheers and see you after.
