Gomorrah: Season One

June 24, 2016 1:24 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

Gomorrah is a television crime drama series set in the suburbs of Naples focusing on the bloody feuding of organised crime syndicates operated by the Camorra. Unlike the Sicilian Mafia the Camorra crime families do not have a hierarchicial structure, instead they vie among themselves for control of the narcotic supply chain and for vital dealing territories in Naples. Set largely in the notorious Neapolitan suburb of Scampia (home to the catastrophic, yet brutally picturesque, social housing project the Vele di Scampia) Gomorrah is based on true-life events and is notable for the relentless pace of its compelling plot, rich character development, and complete lack of sympathetic protagonists. This last feature is no surprise to those familiar with the show's provenance. Roberto Saviano, who wrote the series' eponymous non-fiction polemic exposing the staggering depravity of the Camorra and their depressing reach into every corner of Italian society, has lived in hiding since the book's publication and is one of the series' executive producers.

Gomorrah is a Sky Italia production, so is performed in Neapolitan dialect and Italian. This can be the only explanation for the show's relative lack of success abroad as in terms of production, performance and plotting it has to be one of the best crime dramas since The Wire.

posted by Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez (8 comments total)

I'll have to check this out, I liked the film.
posted by JauntyFedora at 3:26 PM on June 24, 2016

Is this showing in the US now? I'm searching for it but don't see it on any listings.
posted by dnash at 7:50 PM on June 26, 2016

Strike that question. Found it. Sundance Channel will have it starting August 24.
posted by dnash at 8:06 PM on June 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm hoping it'll be available streaming or DVD or something, as I'd really like to see it.
posted by PussKillian at 4:27 PM on June 29, 2016

I've been reading about this show on Reddit too, and am hoping that someone streams it in the US soon.
posted by kanewai at 11:08 PM on July 10, 2016

(Bump for anyone following this thread: Its August 24th, Sundance Channel in the US starts showing this tonight.)
posted by dnash at 12:35 PM on August 24, 2016

Season 1 appeared relatively recently on Canadian Netflix (and I think in the US as well), and I have two episodes to go in it.

Wow. This is good.

Brutal, for sure, though.

I only got halfway through Saviano's book (for no other reason than I had a pile of other reading on the go), but I've got it kicking around and I'm going to pick it up again once I'm done this season.

Set largely in the notorious Neapolitan suburb of Scampia (home to the catastrophic, yet brutally picturesque, social housing project the Vele di Scampia)

Thanks for mentioning this. This is such a striking feature of it. When I go back to Saviano's book I'll have a much better picture in my head of what he's talking about.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:11 PM on August 17, 2018

I'm also finding that Salvatore Esposito (who plays Gennaro), after a certain point is reminding me somewhat of Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:19 PM on August 17, 2018