Mirza Aaqib Beg
Featuring stand-out performances by Marco D’Amore, Salvatore D’Onofrio, Giuseppe Aiello, and Gianni Vastarella, the crime drama movie ‘The Immortal’ or ‘L’immortale’ is a sequel to the third season of the hit Italian television series ‘Gomorrah.’ The film follows the indestructible Naples mobster named Ciro Di Marzio who gets hired by the mob boss, Don Aniello Pastore, after his rescue from the Gulf of Naples. The notorious criminal is then tasked to help run a counterfeit goods operation and also assist the Russian mobs in Latvia to procure huge quantities of cocaine.
However, Ciro’s mission is not without any risks, and he finds a gang of Latvian nationalists breathing down his neck who plan to take him out along with the Russian drug peddlers. The action-packed struggle between the two factions that follows is not only entertaining but can also make viewers wonder about the film’s origins. In case you find yourself contemplating the same, we have got you covered.
Is The Immortal Based on a True Story?
No, ‘The Immortal’ is not based on a true story. The realistic portrayal of mob violence in the film, the media coverage of the drug peddlers, and countless documentaries on drug lords may make the viewers wrongly presume that the film is based on someone in particular. However, the film is not a story of a real-life narcotrafficker, and it is the sequel to the Italian crime series ‘Gomorrah,’ which in turn is based on Roberto Saviano’s book of the same name.
‘Gomorrah,’ published in 2006, is an exposé of the Camorra Mafia in Naples. The book’s success has put the life of Saviano and his loved ones under constant threat. With countless Camorra hitmen on the loose, the investigative journalist has had to run for his life and look for safe houses every few days. Discussing his motivation for the book, he told PBS, “I had a huge rage inside.”
The author also added, “I had a desire for vendetta, in the true sense of the term, against an extremely ferocious world that involves everybody. We’re all part of this mechanism, just by keeping quiet.” Although the book has influenced the eponymous series to a large degree when it comes to the depiction of crime, at the same time, the plot and characters are only loosely based on it. The same can be said about the film as well.
It appears that the talented screenwriter Marco D’Amore and his staff have used creative license to great effect and have come up with a plot that is engaging for the audience while remaining very accurate in the depiction of the world of drugs and mobsters. However, the earthquake in Ciro’s childhood actually happened in Naples (and other places) in 1980. It first struck the region in the evening of November 23, 1980, and was followed by 90 aftershocks which literally sent a wave of devastation and death to several parts of Italy.
The earthquake damaged an area of 26,000 kilometers square, and according to official government figures, a total of 7,700 injured were injured, about 2,483 people dead, and an estimated 250,000 were left homeless. However, such incidents are merely used to add a layer of pain and trauma to the protagonist’s overall character development and to ultimately fuel the fictional narrative of the crime movie. With all its real-life inspirations, the characters and the crime they commit largely remain the imagination of the screenwriters, and ‘The Immortal,’ therefore, is not a true story.
Read More: Where Was the Immortal Filmed?
