Global and National Aspects of the Criminal World

Crime is a global idea familiar both to people in the richest and poorest sections of the United States and in Italy. The American film The Departed and the Italian film Gomorra are two highly regarded films that show crime in their respective cultures. Each attempts to show the life of crime and tries to persuade the viewers that crime does not pay. While The Departed and Gomorra present their stories in very different ways, there are many global elements present in both films that help a foreign audience understand the criminal actions that are taking place. Both films, however, are also shaped by their character’s culture and background. The Departed and Gomorra have different approaches in showing the consequences of criminal activities, but each tap into global and national themes to create detailed and complicated storylines.

Both Gomorra and The Departed focus not only on crime, but also on a group of criminals. Gomorra focuses on five separate stories, each shown intertwined throughout the film. These stories present different groups of people either trying to be better than the mob or trying to be accepted by the mob. The way Gomorra mixes these fairly unrelated sections becomes confusing and makes the film hard to follow, particularly for an audience that does not speak Italian and needs to rely on subtitles. Even though Gomorra progresses slowly, it contains a very strong message and makes the audience feel an attachment to the citizens of Naples, the setting of the film. Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian agrees, saying “After the final credits, it is hard to escape the fear, even the despair, that this whole area - all of Naples, all of southern Italy - is suitable only for a rain of fire from the heavens, or maybe a 1,000-year quarantine, like an ethical or indeed literal Chernobyl.” The Departed also involves a criminal gang. The story involves the Massachusetts State Police planting a rat in a criminal gang and the gang planting a rat in the Massachusetts State Police. The story unfolds as each group discovers the other has a rat and attempts to discover it. A big difference between how the two films are laid out is the existence of one mob boss in The Departed and the spread out nature of the mob activity in Gomorra. As Bradshaw states of Gomorra, “It is not a mob film in the classical vein, because there is no Scarface or central boss figure with whom we are tacitly allowed to become fascinated. There are just scattered villains and victims, filmed with loose, freewheeling energy and attack. “ Both films are long, nearing two and a half hours, however The Departed is suspenseful throughout the film as the action and drama build. Gomorra takes a long time to build each scene and seems to accomplish little in the long time the film plays. Part of this may be due to the lack of background music, which helps to pass the time and keep the audience interested in The Departed, along with the large amount of buildup required to support the five different storylines displayed throughout the film. The methods used by the directors to display their films also differ. Gomorra tends to use more long shots and full body shots with a damp, limited color palette.

A typical scene from Gomorra showing subdued colors in the background background

The Departed, on the other hand, uses more medium shots displaying the focused characters and incorporates more vibrant colors. This makes for a more high quality looking film and allows the action to pop out more than it does in Gomorra.

A shot from The Departed using brighter colors and more action

Crime is understood globally as activity that violates the law. Both films include criminal activity such as cocaine usage and shootings, two highly illegal activities in almost any country in the world, particularly in the United States and Italy. Gomorra shows a broader view of crime and as Cosmo Landesman describes,“[the] mob influence extends beyond the familiar world of drugs and weapons, seeping into the world of high fashion and celebrity". Although fashion and celebrity are not two things globally associated with criminal gangs, they are globally understood themes and a global audience is able to understand how the Comorra criminalizes these areas. The generalities of criminal gangs are also understood well throughout global societies, although the specifics of how each particular gang operates are not well known. The Departed has many globally familiar criminal aspects because it is based off the criminal world in foreign countries. Todd McCarthy describes how the film is a remake in his Variety review and says, “From a plot point of view, ‘The Departed’ closely follows its 2002 progenitor, ‘Infernal Affairs,’ a big Asian hit and crime buff fave.” The ability for The Departed to use roughly the same plot as Internal Affairs for a different national audience shows its strong use of global themes. Rahul Hamid points out another global aspect of The Parted in his article, saying “Just as other gangster films by various filmmakers have portrayed Italian-American life, The Departed gives us an overwhelming sense that everyone in the film is related, that bonds of common ancestry and culture supersede any newer, or perhaps more artificial, designations, like cop or criminal.” The two films use these commonly understood themes and attempt to demonstrate the consequences of these on a local level.

The national aspects of each film are what define both The Departed and Gomorra. However, Gomorra relies more on national identity as a basis for its storyline. In fact, explaining some of Italy’s lesser-known mafia activity is part of Gomorra’s purpose. The film’s depiction of a powerful criminal group named the Camorra, known mainly in Italy, shows the many illegal activities the group is involved with. From dumping waste, demanding protection money, cheaply copying designer fashion, and intimidating teenage wannabe mobsters, the Camorra is involved in a large array of illegal activities. Much of the film’s setting takes place in a classic old-style Italian village with narrow streets and short, compact homes and shops.

The Departed includes national themes from both The United States and from Ireland, where much of the Boston police department, criminals, and citizens are from. National identity is not as important here as in Gomorra, but it is still used in developing the storyline. This identity is shown both through the accent used and the way the Irish characters carry themselves. The Irish characters in The Departed are meant to depict toughness. All of the Irish on both the police and criminal sides are depicted as very tough individuals. A comment is also made in the film to the psychologist that the Irish are the only group psychologists have problems helping because they won’t open themselves up. This national identity also explains the motivation behind the criminal organization. Frank, the leader of the criminals in this film, acknowledges that he could live a perfectly comfortable life without having a life of crime, but he states that he still does it because he likes the thrill, the challenge, and the power. The United State’s national identity is also shown in The Departed when referring to the many different police organizations in the film and how they compete. Although it may be common for countries to have multiple police forces, the different levels in the United States, including local levels, state levels, and the national FBI, have had difficulties communicating with each other and sometimes flat out compete with one another. The possibility of this is revealed subtly throughout the film until it is fully disclosed as the film wraps up This local knowledge of the system is used to provide twists in the movie and create more confusion. This is partly used when the film reveals the FBI might also have a mole in the criminal organization and that Frank, in fact, is an informant for the FBI.

An example from The Departed of the length the movie goes to to make the Irish appear tough. This scene shows Irish throwing insults and curse words in their dialog in order to appear tougher to everyone else watching them

The films Gomorra and The Departed are both well-made films with two separate methods for depicting local crime for both a global and national audience. The films’ each had the goal to show how bad criminal group, however their plot and storyline were different because of the criminal groups they used to prove their points and the outcomes of the crime the film’s chose to focus on. The Departed shows the affect of the crime on the police agencies, while Gomorra shows the affect of the crime on locals and the downside it has on the general society. Global elements of crime are used in each film to appeal to a global audience while each film uses specific national elements to refine the story and in the case of Gomorra, to show Italian elements to a broader, foreign audience.

Works Cited Page
Bradshaw, Peter. "Film review: Gomorrah." 10 Oct. 2008. Guardian.co.uk. 12 Mar. 2009.
Hamid, Rahul. "Cineaste: Review: The Departed." Cineaste. 12 Mar. 2009.
Landesman, Cosmo. "Gomorra - The Sunday Times review review | Film Reviews - Times
Online." Arts & Entertainment News, Features, Interviews | Times Online. 12 Oct.
2008. Times Online. 12 Mar. 2009.
McCarthy, Todd. "The Departed Review." Variety. 12 Mar. 2009.