Matteo Garrone, GOMORRAH, and the Camorra
In Agence France Presse, European Film Award winner Matteo Garrone discusses real-life issues related to Gomorrah (above, with Toni Servillo), his mafia thriller that is a likely contender for the 2009 best foreign-language film Oscar:
"The idea of bringing the army to fight them is, for me, superficial. It’s good for the image of the Italian government, but it won’t do anything to fix the problem.
"You have to work from the inside, to create a relationship between citizens and the institutions of power. The Camorra is very strong because they live there, they grew up there, they are close to people.
"If you don’t work from the inside it will be very difficult. Bringing the army won’t fix it. It may take a generation because the problems are deep — education, unemployment — many, many reasons."
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The article also mentions journalist-author Roberto Saviano (who is also credited as one of the film’s screenwriters), whose fact-based book — in which he attacks the Italian mafia and doesn’t hesitate to name names — is the basis for Garrone’s film.
As a result of his book, Saviano has been under 24-hour police protection in the last couple of years. According to the article, several reports in the Italian media claimed that the Camorra wanted Saviano dead by Christmas. That didn’t happen.
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Tags: Gomorrah, Matteo Garrone, Politics, Roberto Saviano, Toni Servillo
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As if the Italian government weren’t infested with Camorra friends. FILTH.