A look at the sprawling and incredibly powerful Camorra crime family in Italy shows mostly the lurid details of conventional crime. The value of the film lies in exposing crime that is not business as usual
Based on Roberto Saviano's best selling book (sold a million+ copies in Italy) Matteo Garrone’s latest film centers on the underworld of Naples, Italy. Known as the Camorra crime family this empire of criminals is responsible for some 3,600 dead that the public knows of and probably more that are as yet undiscovered. There seems to be little the family is which the family is not involved and they always seem to find a way to make more money by doing things worse. Drugs, loan sharking and burying hazardous waste in farmland seem to be a few of areas in which they excel.
Italy's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009), the film is a fictional narrative of the leaders of organized crime, its underlings and its unwilling or unknowing participants in the general community. Although there are a few people who don’t cooperate, they appear to have a short life-span in the tough streets of Naples.
The film centers on five stories that illustrate the dynamics of organized crime. To the film’s credit, it is neither a “Godfather” story nor a “James Bond” story. One of the most surprising facts about the employees of organized crime is they are fairly normal people. They have no more greed or wish to hurt others than a professional politician or stock market broker. By and large they see their opportunities and they take them as capitalism allows. For example, Don Ciro is a Camorra employee who delivers payments to families whose relatives are in prison. He is the postman for the crime family’s welfare system. But when his organization declares war, his life is threatened along with all the others. It’s kill or be killed.
Most of the screen time goes to Marco and Ciro, nutty teenagers who take on the hobby of stealing from the crime family and arming themselves with machine guns. One of the moral failures of organized crime is its spread to young persons who simply don’t know better. They grow up with it like other kids grow up with baseball. By the time they can make a choice, it’s too late. Another story centers on Toto, a 13 year old with more brains than Marco and Ciro put together. The choices he makes to be a wise guy will scar him forever. The Camorra family ensures that he will be traumatized for the rest of his life.
The other two stories are the most interesting as they depict aspects of organized crime that are not as stereotypical and romanticized as, say, assassination and bank robbery. The first is illegal hazardous waste dumping and the second is copyright infringement. The truth is that “white collar” organized crime is far more destructive, and profitable, than conventional beating and killing.
For example, Roberto is a college graduate who goes to work for Franco in the waste disposal business. Hazardous waste is expensive to dispose of and Franco is good at finding ways to cut costs in getting rid of toxic heavy metal stews that turn normal people into brain damaged cripples and deform those yet unborn. Sometimes the materials are dumped into abandoned quarries that might take years to uncover. In other cases they are buried in land that will eventually be used to grow crops. The results are tragic.
Finally, Pasqaule is a successful tailor and creator of high fashion garments who is approached by a Chinese manufacturer of imitation high fashion. He is paid handsomely to teach offshore operations his trade secrets, the secrets his company uses to produce original styles. Is this even a violation of the law? Where does one draw the line between the methods of a craft and the protected ideas of an inventor?
If this film does nothing more than to refresh the memories of the general populace of the world about the creeping nature of organized crime it will be worth the price of its production and worth seeing. But the more we look into the faces of the crime families of the world, the more we see ourselves.
Thanks to Ron Wilkinson
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Chicago Crime Commission Names Top Crime-Fighting Award for Mitch Mars - #1 Enemy to the Mob
Mitchell Mars wasn't a household name, but he was public enemy No. 1 to the mob.
The typically soft-spoken and unassuming man, who as a federal prosecutor made battling Chicago's organized crime figures his life's work, transformed into a firebrand in front of a jury.
"Criminal cases are about accountability and justice, not only for the defendants, but also justice for our system, justice for our society and justice for the victims," Mars said last year during the successful Family Secrets mob trial. "Our system works. It is the greatest system in the world. But it only works when those who should be held accountable are held accountable."
The assistant U.S. attorney died of cancer just five months later. He was 55.
The Chicago Crime Commission will pay tribute to Mars tonight with its most prestigious crime-fighting award named in his honor. Michael Wolfe, the DuPage County criminal chief, will be the first recipient during a special ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
"I am incredibly humbled by this award," said Wolfe, 49, of Warrenville. "If I could possibly be one-tenth the lawyer and person that Mitch Mars was, I would say my life is complete."
Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine is serving as keynote speaker. Dignitaries such as U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan plan to attend.
Mars' wife and mother also will be in the audience.
Chicago Crime Commission Chairman J.R. Davis said Wolfe stood out among the nominees and was chosen for demonstrating professionalism, dedication and compassion in the administration of justice.
During his 24-year career, Wolfe prosecuted some of the suburbs' most heinous crimes. He worked 61 straight 12-hour days in 2006 as part of a team that put serial-sex killer Paul Runge on death row. Wolfe prosecuted three defendants serving life prison terms for the 1995 triple murder of a pregnant Addison woman, whose baby was cut from its womb, and her two other children.
One day after the last defendant's trial, he began his case against a drunken driver who killed four people, including three Naperville teens. Wolfe later co-authored legislation to toughen DUI penalties.
Most recently, Wolfe secured a death sentence against Eric Hanson of Naperville who killed his wealthy parents, sister and brother-in-law out of greed.
As criminal prosecutions chief, he juggles his own prosecutions while overseeing 65 assistant state's attorneys handling everything from traffic tickets to murder.
His boss, DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, nominated Wolfe. Birkett will attend tonight to see his criminal chief receive the award. "Mitch Mars was a straight-up guy who just wanted to make sure the job got done right," Birkett said. "And that's Mike Wolfe. Mike is a very hardworking, dedicated prosecutor who contributed greatly to our profession. He and Mitch Mars are cut from the same cloth."
Thanks to Christy Gutowski and Rob Olmstead
The typically soft-spoken and unassuming man, who as a federal prosecutor made battling Chicago's organized crime figures his life's work, transformed into a firebrand in front of a jury.
"Criminal cases are about accountability and justice, not only for the defendants, but also justice for our system, justice for our society and justice for the victims," Mars said last year during the successful Family Secrets mob trial. "Our system works. It is the greatest system in the world. But it only works when those who should be held accountable are held accountable."
The assistant U.S. attorney died of cancer just five months later. He was 55.
The Chicago Crime Commission will pay tribute to Mars tonight with its most prestigious crime-fighting award named in his honor. Michael Wolfe, the DuPage County criminal chief, will be the first recipient during a special ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
"I am incredibly humbled by this award," said Wolfe, 49, of Warrenville. "If I could possibly be one-tenth the lawyer and person that Mitch Mars was, I would say my life is complete."
Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine is serving as keynote speaker. Dignitaries such as U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan plan to attend.
Mars' wife and mother also will be in the audience.
Chicago Crime Commission Chairman J.R. Davis said Wolfe stood out among the nominees and was chosen for demonstrating professionalism, dedication and compassion in the administration of justice.
During his 24-year career, Wolfe prosecuted some of the suburbs' most heinous crimes. He worked 61 straight 12-hour days in 2006 as part of a team that put serial-sex killer Paul Runge on death row. Wolfe prosecuted three defendants serving life prison terms for the 1995 triple murder of a pregnant Addison woman, whose baby was cut from its womb, and her two other children.
One day after the last defendant's trial, he began his case against a drunken driver who killed four people, including three Naperville teens. Wolfe later co-authored legislation to toughen DUI penalties.
Most recently, Wolfe secured a death sentence against Eric Hanson of Naperville who killed his wealthy parents, sister and brother-in-law out of greed.
As criminal prosecutions chief, he juggles his own prosecutions while overseeing 65 assistant state's attorneys handling everything from traffic tickets to murder.
His boss, DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, nominated Wolfe. Birkett will attend tonight to see his criminal chief receive the award. "Mitch Mars was a straight-up guy who just wanted to make sure the job got done right," Birkett said. "And that's Mike Wolfe. Mike is a very hardworking, dedicated prosecutor who contributed greatly to our profession. He and Mitch Mars are cut from the same cloth."
Thanks to Christy Gutowski and Rob Olmstead
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