Gomorrah: The Plagues of Naples in black and white and living color

Roberto Saviano's 2006 book, "Gomorra" has had enormous success in a very short time. In it he tells the stories of organized crime that circulate through the Italian consciousness like vaguely remembered recurring nightmares. The book describes the activities of the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, considered the oldest criminal organization in Italy, as it has evolved in the Twenty First Century. This is where cocaine, sweatshops, loan sharks, illegal immigrants and toxic dumps all come together to create a modern day horror of biblical proportions.

The book has sold over one million copies in Italy and has been published in numerous translations, illustrating not only Italian readers' morbid interest in the subject, but also the alarming parallels for so many other societies suffering the ills of modern life. It is available in bookstores in approximately 50 different countries, in spite of the fact that it cannot be easily classified. It is a work of reportage, but done in a narrative style, a sort of non-fiction novel. Saviano cites the murdered Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya and Truman Capote as his forerunners in this genre and his work seems to occupy a space somewhere between the two, investigating the corruption of big business on the one hand, and the sick allure of bloody crime on the other.

The Camorra, (which when spoken with a Neapolitan accent sounds like the infamous biblical city) along with its Calabrian counterpart 'Ndrangheta are not nearly as well known as the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, and for that reason, they have very successfully insinuated themselves into the industrial economy of the country. Saviano says in an interview with Fabio Fazio for Italian television, that the Camorristi don't even call their organization by its name, merely speaking of the "system." Members of 'Ndrangheta similarly speak of "Cosa Nuova." To them, calling their own organizations by their names is something laughably quaint, like calling murder, usury or blackmail by such pedestrian names. These people see themselves as mythic figures living out the cinematic visions of a hundred films. With this book, this courageous journalist (who has been the victim of numerous death threats) endeavors to tear the covers off of this clandestine culture, as one would tear the bandages off a festering wound. He calls evil by its name, and then dares Italian society to do something about it.

"Gomorra" is not just a fascinating book, one so true to life that it is the most widely read book in Italian prisons, it is also a powerful film directed by Matteo Garrone, and winner of the Grand Prize of the Festival at Cannes in 2008. The screenplay takes five of the stories from Saviano's book and intertwines them dramatically. Garrone uses a mix of professional and non-professional actors who move through a filthy labyrinth of decaying housing projects and polluted lands as they sleep walk/run through this nightmare. There are quarrels and beatings and deep rooted fears, and there is cocaine to make it bearable, either through its money or its high. And there is murder, lots of it. But what is most tragically depicted, is the hope that so many of the individuals kindle inside of themselves, to succeed in some way, hopes that will inevitably be snuffed out. The film is a searing, burning tool with a sharp edge that cuts the images into the spectators brain, just as Saviano intended to cut his words into the reader's mind. Here we see the underbelly of modern Europe, the apocalyptic Naples that cries out in self-inflicted pain. It is up to the viewer to decide if this is really someone else's problem, or a social disease that infects every one of our cities, no matter how far we live from Vesuvius.

The book has been published as "Gomorrah" in the U.S. in 2007, translated by Virginia Jewiss. The film of the same name was shown at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival and will be distributed in North America by IFC. It is to be released in late 2008 or early 2009.