Gomorrah: The Origins, the prequel to the formidable Neapolitan mobster saga Gomorrah, immerses viewers in the gritty bustle of Secondigliano, a broken quarter of northern Naples in 1977. Abandoned by God and government, organized crime stands as the only alternative to destitution. Yet even in this purgatory, the city's late-70s style prevails: the young men of Secondigliano may not escape their fate, but they look fantastic trying.
Angelo and Pietro: The New Faces of Crime
Angelo (Francesco Pellegrino) sashays forcefully through the throng with messianic collar-length curls, eyes that seem to mascara themselves, and an array of spectacular leather jackets. Kids gather to gawp when his car skids to a dusty halt, and Angelo—chest hair and medallion nestling in the open collar of a patterned silk shirt in two exquisite shades of brown—emerges and strides to his next appointment. In his early 20s, Angelo is the hippest gangster in his neighborhood, but he bears the pained intensity of the thwarted: he has no citywide sway and realizes the big bosses give him a paltry percentage of the overall pie. His crew, sporting their own leather outerwear in boxy mustard or calf-length burgundy, are content, but Angelo wants more.
Observing him from afar is Pietro (Luca Lubrano), a mid-teen with a greasy parting and bumfluff. Every day he wears the same jumbo corduroy coat, which looks sad next to Angelo's sharp clobber but remains cool in viewers' eyes. Pietro has nothing but his wits, yet his desire to improve himself makes him the natural leader of his cheerful gang of petty-thieving urchins. If he can prove his worth to Angelo, his ascent can begin. His surname is Savastano—Gomorrah fans know that in 30 years, Pietro Savastano will be a king.
Ambush and Betrayal: Classic Mob Drama with Elegance
The dashing Angelo and determined Pietro soon become colleagues when Angelo's team is ambushed on their own turf while keeping cash on the premises overnight. Evidently, there is a rat in the operation who must be found and mercilessly dealt with—a classic mafia tale told here with mournful elegance as rain pours down and Pietro's eyes open. Not for the last time, we attend a lavish funeral where everyone knows the murderer is among them and the deceased had it coming.
The two new allies grow closer as Angelo, desperate to mix with older, all-powerful dons—majestic double-breasted suits, impossibly large square tinted spectacles—embrolls himself in a drugs operation that pits family against family and young against old. There is always a boyish, even vaguely Bugsy Malone cheekiness offsetting the seriousness, for instance when Angelo and Pietro pull off a dock heist by distracting security guards using a football and 22 10-year-olds.
Respect for Characters' Predicament
But Gomorrah: The Origins respects its characters' predicament. The word "freedom" keeps popping up in dialogue, forever promised to foot soldiers in return for loyalty, but never actually given to anyone except the men at the top. Angelo and Pietro's difficult backgrounds mean their chances of success are small—we see how impoverished Pietro is, while Angelo's troubled youth is summed up by a recollection from his uncle: "You know what your mum did after she shot your dad's killer? She came home to breastfeed you!"
As Pietro plots his way into the mob, he meets Imma (Tullia Venezia), who lives a comfortable life in a nice apartment with her loving parents. Imma tells Pietro about her dream of studying music at Juilliard; Pietro quietens when asked what his dream is, since poor boys like him aren't allowed them. Gomorrah fans know how that story turns out, starting with Imma realizing organized crime's tentacles touch her family too, meaning she isn't free either.
Freshness and Tenderness in a Familiar Genre
With children and young adults as protagonists, Gomorrah: The Origins may lack the heft of other premium gangster stories, but it delivers familiar, wonderfully rich mob-drama set pieces—at a fabulous garden party where families meet, eat, and furiously scheme, you half-expect a young Al Pacino to walk into shot. Its youthful main characters lend it a freshness and tenderness that standard crime sagas lack. Dust off your wildest vintage fabrics and hit the streets. Gomorrah: The Origins aired on Sky Atlantic and is on Now. In Australia it streams on SBS on Demand.
