Bad Fellas Italian mobsters display ruthless ambition in dark drama ‘Gomorrah’
Since “The Sopranos” left the air, there's been a dearth of crime family shows.
Leave it to Italy, birthplace of the Camorra, to drop this explosive export, the No. 1 show in that country. Based on a best-selling novel by Roberto Saviano, “Gomorrah” is “The Sopranos” on steroids, presented here in Italian with subtitles and minus any symbolism about ducks, mommy issues or a fretful therapist.
Honestly, the mobsters here would think Tony was a wuss and would put a bullet between his eyes.
These people would just as soon kill their own mothers.
They certainly don't mind killing each other's mothers.
The opener (at 10 tonight, an additional episode follows at 11. Sundance TV will be rolling out the remaining 10 episodes of the first season in two-hour installments over the successive weeks) finds ambitious foot soldier Ciro (Marco D'Amore) following the orders of Don Pietro Savastano (Fortunato Cerlino) outside of Naples and setting fire to a rival gangster's home as he and his mother sit down to eat dinner.
One conflagration deserves another — the attack sets off a wave of violence against Don Pietro's men, but he won't be deterred from teaching the rival a lesson no matter how many lives are lost. “I'll get big wreaths for everyone,” he says.
Don Pietro's first solution to all problems — probably to even the cable going out — is to kill someone. He's not above using his own fists to do the deed. And his idea of testing his minions' loyalty involves urinating in a glass and telling them to chug it.
Don Pietro succeeded his father in the business and after more than 20 years is pondering his own mortality and the fate of his empire. (Retiring to a nice villa is apparently not an option.) His wife, Imma (Maria Pia Calzone), matches him in drive. (Their home looks as if three baroque museums threw up in it.) Their son Gennaro (Salvatore Esposito) is a hulking food vacuum, a spoiled brat of a man whose decision to hit on a woman at a bar has farreaching, dangerous consequences for everyone in their orbits.
Ciro's nickname is Immortal — and that will be tested.
“Gomorrah's” characterizations seem sparse at first, but the show uses action to reveal its players — as when Ciro takes Gennaro for a rite-of-passage only to be found in a mobster family.
There are no innocents in “Gomorrah.” And no one is safe.