Should Gomorrah be in the running for an Oscar?
Roberto Saviano, the Italian journalist and author of a gripping expose of the Camorra (what the English translation of the book subtitles "Italy's other Mafia") gives a remarkable interview on The Culture Show tonight.
Roberto Saviano with Lawrence Pollard
Gomorrah has sold phenomenally well around the world and alerted people to a branch of Italian organised crime that many were oblivious to. Saviano maps the startling involvement of the Camorra in legitimate businesses, in an empire that extends as close to home as Scotland. In this the book and the film are very different - Saviano is at the centre of the book Gomorrah, talking to heroin addicts, looking through a gangster's holiday snaps (the home of General Kalashnikov is the destination) and reacting to the way that the Camorra dominate the society in which he lives. The film is primarily a visual experience: grimly beautiful but exhausting rather than moving or informative. I missed the wider context, even if while reading the book I sometimes found myself taken aback by Saviano's emotional style. Having learned subsequently that he has to live under armed guard and spends a lot of his time on the move I suppose that he can't be criticised for painting the Camorra in vivid colours. What he has accomplished is remarkable. I've written more about the film here.
So I would personally recommend the book over the film, although if you missed it in the cinema you will have to wait until 9 February for the DVD release. If you watch this week's Culture Show you'll find that Mark Kermode thinks it a travesty that Gomorrah was left off the list, but I still think that the Academy made the right decision. Are you with me or with Mark? Perhaps one for the Kermodes?
Let us know what you think of the interview.
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Comments
I am truly saddened Gomorrah was overlooked. To my mind, Saviano's book is one of the most important works of non-fiction Europe has produced in a generation - if not longer. And I suspect that many still do not realise the impact of the collective financial muscle that organised crime wields today. And the power of the cash rich hoodlums will be even more pronounced at a time when normal capital flows are restricted.
The immediacy of the Gaza tragedy would have rightly influenced the members in favour of content like Waltz with Bashir. But I can only hope that the decision to exclude Gomorrah was not in fact evidence of the very influence that this parallel world can have. The financial history of some of the studios suggests that in the past they have not always been immune to the pressures of Southern Italy's "finest".
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I agree that the book is very important, but did you feel that the film was as good?
What did you think of our interview with Saviano?
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I have come across this book in the the shops and very quickly looked at the next book on the shelf.
'Not another mafia book' shoots through my mind right before I see another paperback that makes me think 'Not another historical based conspiracy fiction', before settling on a book about pirates that is probably aimed at kids.
Having seen the interview, I am now very much interested in both the book and the Big Screen adaptation. Assumed truth (on my part)and articulation seem to have had a very powerful impact on the subjects of the book, though I assume it does not take much to make people of their profession swear mortal vengence on a critical analysis of their life choices.
However I have taken great exception at the treatment of this article within the editorial structure of the show, so much so that I'm participating in my first blog to express this.
No sooner had I finished watching the Newsnight Review and been put in the mood for some more of the same, my hopes were dashed by, what was in my opinion, very sloppy placement of the interview within the structure of the show.
I enjoyed the interview and felt very jealous of the bi-lingual intelligence of the interviewer, which was followed up with some sypathetic poignancy by the presenters (I don't know their names but their smug mugs can be found on the show's website) towards the authors predicament.
Surely this would be a very adult and apt piece to end the show on, rather than swiftly moving on to something less poingnant and less interesting before the penultimate waste of time watching some hobbyists busking in London.
For people that dissect other prefessionals abilities of structure, this is a joke.
I did however watch the World Indoor Bowls Championship which followed the Culture Show and was hugely entertained by drama and passion and skill on show. Shame such abilities were missing from the preceding show.
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@ trumped-up-viewer
It's a pity that you felt that the Saviano item was compromised by the rest of the show. It sounds like you did actually enjoy the interview and that it has made you considering reading the book and seeing the film. If we had placed the Saviano item at the end of the programme it might have felt that we weren't giving it sufficient prominence - and this was the last thing we wanted to do.
It's the curse and the virtue of a magazine show that we cover lots of different topics, but this does mean that at times there can be some difficult shifts in tone to manage.
Did anyone else find the contrast difficult to take?
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have read the book - haven't seen the movie - regardless to anything you might think this guy deserves every oscar on earth. he did something great.
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Saviano deserves the Italian version of the Pulitzer, but that doesn't mean that the film should get an Oscar...
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