The actors did a great job with their characters, and rightly so as most are locals of the area. The usage of non-professional actors/ local talent really helped in capturing the authenticity of the story. Also, the location-shooting did a great job in capturing the core of the Mafia, while also establishing its widespread influences. The spaces we see are limited, but many. What I mean by this is that because of the different story-lines, we see many different spaces, but what we see of these spaces is limited. They do not travel much in their own settings (except for Franco and Roberto who travel across the country).The first scene of the film establishes the violence of the subject and the aggressiveness of the Mafia. The film does show quite a bit of explicit content. This helps to deny the glorification that being part of the Mafia is usually depicted as bringing. Unlike how conspicuous consumption and success is shown in Scarface (which is also referenced in this movie), Matteo Garrone makes an effort not to show that side of glorification. The Mafia members here are ruthless, violent and seemingly do not have morals. It takes little to agitate them and loyalty plays a big part in maintaining one's safety. This again shows the reality of the film and the lives of the people in Naples.The endings of the different story-lines complement each other in sending the message that you are either with or against the Camorra. Although in the case of Roberto, his future is left ambiguous which is a little confusing.Overall a great portrayal of the Camorra system in Naples, with well established story-lines and great acting. What makes this film terrifying is the fact that this is based from reality and that the people living there have no choice but to go along or face the consequences (usually death).Read more movie reviews at: championangels.wordpress.com

I can't believe I wasted my time looking at this movie, AND to top it off, having to READ subtitles! Where's the story? Where's the plot? All this movie does is follow this kid around delivering grocery's and some older man delivering money.Trust me do not waste your brain cells on this garbage that claims to be a movie.Funny thing is a critic (Stephen Schaeffer) from the Boston Herald said "The greatest mafia movie ever, strips every last pretense of romanticism from 'The Godfather' saga" <~~Seriously?Just look at the trailer and remember those movie reviewers AND IMDb users who praised this movie, so that you can never trust their reviews EVER again.Were they serious? This is NOT worth watching at all!

This Italian film was one of the newest entries in a version of the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which changes at least ten or so of its titles every year, so I was looking forward to finding out whether to was a good film to replace another, and it was rated well by critics. Basically the film consists of five interconnected stories about characters associated with or part of the crime syndicate the Casalesi clan who are based within the Camorra (presumably the title is a deliberate or stylised misspelling of this name), and how the wrongdoings affect themselves and others around them. These include timid middleman Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato) who to the families of imprisoned clan members gives them money to support them, thirteen year old grocery delivery boy Totò (Salvatore Abruzzese) who watches bags of drugs distributed between dealers and them running from the police, graduate Roberto (Carmine Paternoster) who is unaware while working in waste management that his boss Franco (Golden Globe (Italy) winner Toni Servillo) is illegally dumping toxic waste like chromium and asbestos in abandoned places, haute couture tailor Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupo) who works for garment factory owner Iavarone (Gigio Morra) who has gangster connections and ties, and two cocky out of control teenage gangster wannabes Marco (Marco Macor) and Ciro (Ciro Petrone) who independently run their own small local racket for distributing stuff. Obviously we see each of them getting involved in the drug dealing trade in some form or another, making money from selling and doing the dirty work to sort any problems, and many other activities, but of course all come to abrupt and consequential conclusions as crime does not pay and their decisions ultimately cause the slow destruction of their personal lives. Also starring Maria Nazionale as Maria, Giovanni Venosa as Giovanni, Vittorio Russo as Vittorio and Bernardino Terracciano as Bernardino. The cast is all good and the direction is well paced, I would not be able to detail specific moments that stood out, only that I know it had a lot of drugs, guns and some small police and criminal chases, obviously the main point of the film was to see the characters not realise their actions would not amount to anything, so it was interesting crime drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, it won the Golden Globes (Italy) for Best Cinematography and Best Film, and it was nominated for Best Director for Matteo Garrone and Best Screenplay, and it was nominated the Golden Globe (USA) for Best Foreign Language Film. Very good!

Images of a world. Its connections of each peace of society. Reflection about stains and price of lives. Slices from Italy - shadows, fear and circles. A film about Mafia but more. A movie about ways of silence and coldness of crime. About survive at any level. About masters and victims. About slaves. In black and gray. About innocence as crust of deep abyss. About a space who can be anyway. Fresco of rude rules, description of crimes as vascular artery, it is exercise to define roots of our time. So, the frontiers between good and bad are fiction. The escape - only illusion. Money and fear are pieces of normal way to transform reality. As form of jungle. But totally absurd.The boy - seed is, in fact, only question. Without answers.