Michael Corleone is a Sunday school teacher, compared to Genny Svastano.
Although this year marks the The 50th Anniversary of the first installment in Francis Ford Coppola’s epic mob trilogy The Godfather — which also came back for a limited theatrical release on February 25 — I find myself still reeling from (and, okay, telling everyone I know about) the fifth and final season of GomorrahThe streaming video for, is exclusive to HBO Max.
It’s only been out for a little over a month now on the service. It was a satisfying and bloody conclusion to the five-season storyline set in the crime-ridden slums at Naples. This drama also featured one of the most compelling, Shakespearean mafia dramas ever. It may even be the greatest. Sorry, Godfather fans.
GomorrahHBO Max
Thanks in part to actor Salvatore Esposito’s portrayal of Savastano — a crime boss with a menacing scar on one cheek who broods, dotes on his wife and son, and who shoots to kill without so much as blinking — I’ve found myself unable to so easily let this series go, never mind its well-executed conclusion. In fact, I believe there will always be one godfather. And it’s not the Hollywood version. It’s this one, the hulking, bearded figure who grew up in the decaying northern Naples municipality of Secondigliano.
Gomorrah is a city where gangs speak Neapolitan and adhere to the code of “il Sistema” (The System). Rival clans from the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, jockey for power. They spill blood, corrupt and then corrupt completely and wage a never-ending war. One where the battlefield is delineated by ugly apartment blocks and city streets, and the sound of gunfire and bloody turf battles at night are as common as children playing on the street.
So much of this show, in fact, isn’t written so much as acted. And when we see the players wordlessly selling drugs from protected corners, hiding weapons, setting traps for rivals, taking refuge in pre-provisioned safehouses, it all hints at a universe of corruption and malevolence that, I’m sorry — guys who say things like “Leave the gun, take the cannoli”Oder whine “You don’t even think to call me Godfather”They have almost nothing in common.
“Your money is dirty”
And while there is a staggering amount of blood, gunfights and death over the course of the show’s five seasons, Gomorrah doesn’t always rely on guys who wear expensive clothes and who look like male models to push the narrative along. Sometimes, like Season 5, evil is represented by a small, grieving widow with seemingly vast criminal resources.
At one point, she shuffles into the foreground to confront a tied-up fool who had a hand in her husband’s murder. She stares at him with jet black eyes and says he still hasn’t paid enough for his sins.
He is now unable to make her hiss, and she literally hisses at him. “worm food.”
Even before the final season debuted on HBO Max at the end of January, I was still thinking about the prior season’s finale (in which Genny reminded viewers who might have forgotten about his capacity for violence with his stunning surprise murder of a major character) for days after I watched it. This time around, in Season 5, we get a kind of summation of the rot in Genny’s soul, when one character makes a show of refusing to take a payment from Genny:
“Your money is dirty.”
Genny replies coldly “All money is dirty. And it makes men do such awful things.”
Death is the price of sin
Genny, the pudgy and spoiled scion of a vicious mafioso named Pietro Savastano was our first encounter back in Season One. His parents sent him off to South America to study the business. He came back stronger, with a faux hawk and a more steely personality. He came back hard.
We see Genny marry and have children over five seasons. Genny learns to cheat and to out-maneuver his enemies. His chaotic friendship with fellow gangster Ciro di Marzio is one of the few constants in his life — that is, until a rival clan forces Genny to kill Ciro — Genny ends up a cold-eyed killer with money, power, and soldiers at his beck and call.
Gomorrah, especially with Season 5, feels to me a little like what you’d get if, say, Game of Thrones and Breaking BadShe gave birth to a psychotic lover child. There isn’t anyone here that you can root for. Let it be known, however, that Esposito (along with Marco D’Amore, who plays Ciro) has ensured this gritty, supremely violent crime drama easily rivals anything that’s emerged stateside in years.
They also do an amazing job at getting you involved in the stories of their characters. For crying out loud, d’Amore’s Ciro kills his own wife with his bare hands, and you still stay on the edge of your seat for five seasons, captivated by how the so-called Immortal’s story is going to play out.
A thrilling, satisfying ending to a HBO Max classic
Finalized Season 5 Gomorrah. This is the most amazing season yet. Amazing story writing, phenomenal characters, brilliant acting, spectacular score, and amazing cinematography. Gonna miss it @damore_marco @SalvioEspo
— Rikki Alexander (@RikkiAlexander) March 2, 2022
It’s been said that all great stories boil down to one or both of the following. Either way, a man embarks on a journey. Or a stranger visits town. The brilliant HBO Max show is amazing. I love it because it has elements of both. It is universal because it has such universal appeal. The father is the son. Sin is death. Wars are bad for businesses. And, in the end, it’s always the hubris that gets you.
My praises for GomorrahIt is not 100% clear. There was a feeling of being rushed in the last season. It felt like everyone had already decided what the endpoint was. Only 10 episodes were spent attempting to reaffirm it.
Ciro experienced a major change of heart regarding Genny. It was a surprise to me at first. Until you remember — these are career criminals, which is to say their psyche doesn’t follow the same straight line as ours.
In the final analysis, it’s a minor quibble. GomorrahAll future mob stories will be judged by this standard. Esposito’s Genny Savastano wasn’t born under a bad sign, with a blue moon in his eyes. He was nevertheless transformed by the actor into one of most memorable gangsters ever to grace the small screen.