IN 2006, GOMORRAH, AN INVESTIGATIVE BOOK ABOUT CAMORRA,
IS PUBLISHED IN ITALY.
THE BOOK IS TRANSLATED WORLDWIDE
AND BECOMES AN INTERNATIONAL BEST-SELLER WITH MORE THAN TEN MILLION COPIES SOLD,
A MOVIE AND A SUCCESSFUL TV SERIES.
FEW MONTHS AFTER THE BOOK LAUNCH, ITS AUTHOR, ROBERTO SAVIANO,
IS GIVEN POLICE PROTECTION FOLLOWING SOME THREATS RECEIVED FROM THE CAMORRA.
SAVIANO STILL LIVES UNDER POLICE PROTECTION.
Do you see this ice cream cone?
It is a chocolate, custard and cream ice cream.
Why don't they put sugar in the cream in Rome?
Who knows...
What really annoys me
is going to an ice cream parlor and only find flavours like:
Carob, chili pepper. Why?
Why these flavours?
Do you see this young man?
His name is Roberto Saviano and he is a journalist.
The Camorra would love to kill him
because in 2006, aged 26, he wrote a book titled Gomorrah
in which he describes
the military and financial power of Camorra clans.
Only in Italy, four million copies were sold.
What really got the Camorra angry
happened seven months after the book launch
when Roberto, still unknown,
during a public event in Casal Di Principe
made a kind request to the local bosses.
Francesco Schiavone,
the Zagaria family, Antonio Iovine, go away!
You don't belong here.
Stop being part of this land.
Let's push them away, they are nothing!
From that day,
he is subject to a constant and intense protection from the Carabinieri.
Here there are some practical implications
when you live like he does.
He can't get up in the morning and decide what to do.
All his travels have to be decided two days in advance
in order to organize the security of the journey.
If his chosen restaurant doesn't meet the required security standard,
he cannot go.
He cannot go for a swim in the sea because
his bodyguards have to be in the water too.
He cannot have regular commitments, so no Pilates every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.
He cannot drive a car, ride a bike or a motorbike
he cannot go and see a movie unless the cinema is empty.
He cannot see the same person too frequently
not to make them become a target or a lead to find him.
If he wants to travel abroad,
he has to ask permission to the host country
with a notice that goes from one week to a month before.
and he might not necessarily obtain it, given his status.
Many people love him, but he has many detractors too.
They accuse him of having made everything up,
of having copied everything
of acting like a victim to have bodyguards
of believing he is the only one who talks about the Camorra,
of getting rich by writing about the Camorra.
I decided to meet him to get to know him better.
Good morning.
For security reasons,
I cannot show you the exact place where we met.
Bear with me.
This is one of the safe houses where I sometimes come to...
It is all closed, damn!
Let's try and open.
The Carabinieri won't see us.
You can't open the windows, can you?
They ask me to refrain from doing it.
-So, I made this consideration. -Go ahead.
You were born in '79. When this happened...
2000...
-2006. -I was about to say 2008. 2006. I was 26.
I have been living like this since I was 26
and I'm surprised I am not in a psychiatric hospital.
At 26 I was in London acting like a moron.
Would you have liked to go to London and wash pans at 26?
Sure.
I did many small jobs.
At the time I gave private lessons to the neighborhood kids.
I had become a leader in private lessons, because?
-Italian? -I taught everything.
-I even taught maths. -And you were a journalist too.
Yes, a temp.
You went from being a temp journalist to being the journalist.
Yes, it was really bizarre.
I lived in Piazza Sant'Anna Di Palazzo,
a small square in the Spanish Quarters.
I have never been back there. You got to this square
and at the time it was full of garbage
and I lived on the second floor of this building.
I shared the flat with a girl, a very good costume designer.
Have you ever heard from her?
We wrote to each other few times. Daniela.
I remember her very fondly. I wrote Gomorrah in that flat.
Did she ask what you were writing?
Yes, I talked about my things.
This was great too, I could share it with people during lunch or dinner.
Many people were skeptical, they thought it was not possible
especially those coming from other parts of Italy.
Those stories were not known at all.
It might seem unbelievable,
but nothing of what I told is secret.
What was the secret aspect?
Alliances and investments, but the leaders and trials
were known to everybody.
Everybody means everybody.
This is what pissed many of your “enemies” off,
many of the things you said..
Yes, I have been dealing with this for ten years. Definitely.
This thing has always made me laugh, because it is like saying:
“You are talking about the Second World War.
Thousands of people have talked about it.
You can find everything on Wikipedia!”
Roberto explains how he started to write about the Camorra.
When I was a young boy I constantly wrote to writers.
-Really? -Yes.
-Like what? -I wrote that I had loved their book.
-As a fan, then. -Yes, but I also wanted to seem critical.
I wrote my first letter after high school
to the critic Goffredo Fofi and it contained a short story.
I sent this, terrible, short story to Goffredo Fofi,
who actually replied to me.
He wrote:
“Dear Roberto, I read your story. It is really crap.”
He wrote that.
You must have been really disappointed.
The second part changed my life, though.
He wrote:
“I like the way you write, I saw where you come from.
Open the window and rather than writing this stuff, tell me what you see.”
I sent him other things
and he rejected them without even replying.
Did you keep writing to him even if he didn't reply?
-Yes. -I see, a real psycho!
Until when, with Gomorrah, he learnt about the book.
I sent him some chapters and he invited me to have dinner at a restaurant.
A friendship was born, but then my fame ruined everything.
What do you mean?
When you are famous it becomes difficult.
It was difficult to cultivate relationships.
-In general? -In general.
I didn't manage it, not even with the people I really loved.
On one hand, you are used to distrust everything and everyone,
as I still do,
on the other hand people are afraid to hang out with me
because they will become targets.
You are a target of the Camorra,
but it doesn't only mean that they will shoot you. That is nothing.
It means you are constantly subjected to relentless delegitimization.
When I was looking for a flat years ago,
the excuse was always that they were scared about me living there,
but it wasn't true.
I couldn't live there because I have 24/7 police protection
and therefore the Carabinieri could have seen things:
the fake company that was legally based there,
the lack of fire extinguishers... This is the issue.
You said you are very distrustful now. How were you before?
I have never been a joker, really.
Maybe I have been boring since I was a kid.
I remember that my mother once asked me,
since she always saw me study,
“will you go out if we buy you a moped?”
-No way! -Yes.
On the other hand, I wanted adventure,
get undercover, live the underworld
spend time in Castel Volturno, on the Domitiana road.
There was everything there, prostitutes, drug dealers.
Only looking at them was like adding something.
Then Gomorrah was launched. How many copies did you think?
My dream was selling 10000 copies. Really.
And write several books. I had many of them in mind but they were all stopped.
I had a book about trucks. I had spent some time with truck drivers.
I remember this phone call with my brother.
I don't know if I was allowed to say this.
Even mentioning he has a brother could be risky for Roberto.
But if there is something that? Just tell me.
I make a phone call...
I'll say it, to my brother. I won't give any other details.
I made a phone call to my brother, whom I love very much
and I told him that we could buy a motorbike
because I had sold quite a few copies.
Almost 100000 copies.
He went, but we never bought it because police protection started.
Police protection started 20 days after this phone call.
-Are you a fan of motorbikes? -I like them.
I think that the day I will lose, I will be free...
I don't even know how to say this..
When this police protection thing will finish,
the first thing I'll do is buy a motorbike.
I am not sure if it was you who told me about the ice cream story.
I dreamt about eating an ice cream while walking,
but I was advised to avoid it.
At the time my security chief told me:
“If they take pictures of us
while you are eating an ice cream, how do we communicate to people...”
“See, Saviano. Protected to eat an ice cream! Paid to eat an ice cream.”
So, what happens?
To communicate the armored life, the worries
you have to give up things you could actually do with police protection.
Once, I was at the airport, I will never forget it.
A woman approaches me and says:
“What are you doing here? In an airport?”
I tell her, “Look, Madame?”
“I have been praying for you for days and you can walk!”
There it dawned on me that there were people
who started to love me because I had to die.
In the past few years I felt, and I still feel it,
uncomfortable for being still alive.
Salman Rushdie is the only person I managed to speak to.
He doesn't have police protection anymore!
He is free and he managed to free himself thanks to a strategy
that was also driven by constant mockeries,
“the threatened man who goes to all parties.”
He refused all this and decided to regain his freedom.
The courage to force things.
I haven't had this courage until now.
Sorry to insist.
Going back to when you called your brother to tell him about the motorbike,
you were a temp journalist who had become a successful writer
free to promote your book.
I went all around Italy, I went to bookshops
and I remember a Florence bookshop the first time.
I got there and asked about the presentation of Gomorrah
and they told me the author was not there.
I swear. “No, the author is not here.” I said, “Look, it's me.”
Then I sat down and there were four people,
including a lady who fell asleep.
-What did you think? -They said this was how it worked.
It's always tough for first time writers.
I remember it with great melancholy and nostalgia.
How long did it take from the book launch to police protection? Three months?
I was given police protection in October
and the book had been launched in May.
There was a time in September when you are invited to a demonstration
and you come up with the brilliant idea
of making a speech in Casal Di Principe.
That was incautious.
The book had already sold many copies and I bothered them.
In Casale I attacked the bosses.
By naming and shaming them.
Yes. “Michele Zagaria, Antonio Iovine,
Francesco Schiavone, you don't belong here.
Go away!” If I had said this on TV
it wouldn't have caused any trouble, but there...
I remember that everyone froze,
you don't say something like that there, in a public square.
Not because they will kill you,
you don't say it just because you don't say it.
You cannot mention the boss' name, they say “him, that guy, that other guy”.
-Why did you do something like that? -There were many young people.
There were many children, boys and girls were separated, of course.
I thought that it was the right time to say something like this.
I felt very strong.
I leave Casale and there were
the president of the Chamber of Deputies Bertinotti's security people
who saw me about to leave on my own,
stopped me and told me I should go with them.
They felt that there was a bad atmosphere.
-Had you noticed it? -Not deeply.
To what extent did that public statement contribute to the life you are living?
A lot, because the major signals arrived shortly afterward.
For the last presentation, the one you will remember for all your life,
you went to Pordenone,
you do your presentation... How did it go?
Very well, I showed a lot of pictures.
A beautiful day.
I receive a phone call from a carabiniere called Ciro, who then became my friend,
who tells me: “Roberto, you will be given police protection”.
And I go: “Yeah, right.” “It is true.” he says.
“No way!”
“Once in Naples you will be under police protection.”
Initially it was an experience, I thought I was going to have it for a short time.
I also said I didn't feel particular pressure or anxieties on me.
I asked to go home, in the Spanish Quarters.
I got there, took everything and went down.
I got into the car and there were people around it.
They said: “They finally arrested you!”
In a place where everyone roots against the police.
They really root against it.
It was their way of saying: “that's enough”,
because I had already talked about it on TV.
I thought it was going to last for six months,
or even less, three weeks. They said few days.
-You took everything and went... -To the Pastrengo barracks in Naples.
What was your darkest time in the past few years?
The last year of the Berlusconi Government,
the petition against me when I talked about the 'Ndrangheta in Milan.
That was the darkest time, but it happens very often,
sometimes I can't even get up in the morning
I am consumed by guilt.
Why guilt?
For the people who love me, the people around me,
because maybe I got it all wrong.
My life, my family... it's a bit better now, but it's really difficult.
Can somehow be a consolation
the fact that you have the opportunity to meet many people?
Like Bono who repeatedly mentioned you during a concert in Rome.
To tell you the truth, it doesn't make up for it.
It flatters me, I appreciate it.
The meeting with Bono was beautiful. Beautiful and heartfelt.
He had read my things.
He gave me a nice gift because he told me I would have a seat at the U2 concert.
I asked where and when and he answered “everywhere and forever”.
As a citizen, how can I improve your life?
Actually, I don't think there's much to do.
It's something I have to do and I am not able to.
I am guilty, because I keep insisting on these stories.
I will pay for this, but not now. Not now.
When the lights will go down,
when the time will come they will get me,
but not now.
The death sentence against Roberto Saviano
became known following some informants' statements.
Some of these threats were even made during a trial
through a document read by the defense lawyers of some Camorra members.
The bosses and their lawyers were indicted.
On the day of the verdict
I go with Roberto to the Naples Courthouse.
Here we are!
I realize it is a very important moment for him.
Wherever Roberto arrives,
his escort makes a very accurate search
even if he arrives in a courthouse full of police officers.
THE LAW IS EQUAL FOR EVERYONE
In that document,
the bosses and their defense lawyers requested the transfer of a trial
by claiming that Saviano's work and the work of another journalist,
Rosaria Capacchione, her, was affecting it.
The judges thought that those words were hiding very serious threats
and indicted both the bosses and their defense lawyers.
Six year have passed from that day
and today the Naples' Court will decide if those were real threats.
The two bosses are not in the courtroom
but are connected through videoconference
from the prisons where they are detained.
Iovine Antonio, inmate in video conference.
Yes, good morning, Mr. President.
From the secure site I confirm the presence of Antonio Iovine.
Excuse me, Mr. President, from C1 in Novara
the defendant Francesco Bidognetti, born in 1951, is present.
Santonastaso Michele?
Present.
The defense lawyer of one of the two accused
lawyers starts his closing argument.
Roberto Saviano with whom I personally share the spirit
that drives him in an uneven fight.
Mr. Saviano tells his own story.
What troubles Mr. Saviano?
Saviano says... Saviano writes?
He had to answer, Mr. Saviano...
Mr. Saviano becomes aware?
I am talking about Saviano...
Mr. Saviano, you cannot?
I notice he mentions Roberto so often
that it looks like he is the accused.
I take my phone and write him what I think.
IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU ARE THE GUILTY PARTY HERE!
EXACTLY
THEY ACQUIT THE THIEF AND SENTENCE THE CHICKEN
Let's adjourn to 5:00 p.m., more or less.
The wait for the verdict is long and wearying.
Here come the judges.
This Court, according to Articles 553 and 535 of the Criminal Code
finds Michele Santonastaso guilty of the crimes charged to him.
We sentence him to one year in prison
and the payment of legal fees and expenses.
Under Article 530 of the Criminal Code
we acquit Francesco Bidognetti, Antonio Iovine, Carmine D'Aniello
for the crime charged to them
as they did not commit it.
The judges convict the lawyer who read the document in court
for mafia aggravated threatening behaviour
but they acquit the bosses and the other lawyer.
Basically those threats
were pronounced in the interest of the clan
but the trial could not prove
that the bosses were the instigators.
Roberto, can we have your initial comment after the verdict?
In my view, the Casalesi clan members once again prove to be cardboard bullies
because they hid behind a lawyer.
What did you expect?
That the bosses were going to be convicted too.
They acquitted two killers.
Either they acquitted everyone saying it was not a threat
or they said that the threats made by the lawyer were his personal initiative.
But they say that a lawyer made a Camorra threat.
It is like telling the clan that they can do whatever they like to me.
I'd like to go now
as far as possible
from this country.
This day in Naples was particularly bitter for Roberto.
It is difficult to keep loving your city
when you can only visit its barracks and courthouses.
There are many places in Naples that Roberto loves
but where he can't go for security reasons.
And we spoke about that when we met in his office.
A restaurant I think it's called.
“Il Tabaccaio”, at least I called it like this.
They also sell tobacco,
but they made a fish fry that was out of this world.
Then Scampia, the GRIDAS center,
a center where I often did several things.
And I felt good. I'd like to see how they are.
Then, the Spanish Quarters, Piazza Sant'Anna Di Palazzo.
-Is it where you lived? -Yes. I'd like to see how it is now.
And then, in via Mezzocannone there was a bookshop,
which I think is closed now, called Dante & Descartes.
The Archaeological Museum, there's Venus Callipyge,
the most beautiful woman ever.
I went there very often.
The Castel dell'Ovo.
There is a terrace on the left
where you can see the entire Gulf.
-Did you go there? -All the time.
I decide that I will be his eyes and ears
and I visit those places on his behalf.
Two weeks later
I go back to see Roberto and show him the images I shot.
Ok, let me see.
The Dante & Descartes bookshop.
See, it is not here anymore.
It is actually closed, but the twist, dear Roberto
is that it has not closed shop, they just moved.
So, walking down a bit
opposite the Natural Science Museum Center
here it is.
I'll ask how the business is going.
-Hello, I'm Pif. -Hi, Pif.
-You moved. -One year ago.
Do you know that Saviano came when you were there?
Saviano presented the draft of his first book in my bookshop, actually.
I had forgotten about it. It is true, a draft.
Announcing the great leap for Saviano.
Let's hope that sooner or later
he'll be able to come back to Naples as a “winner”.
This city needs excellencies like Roberto Saviano.
-Do you want to say hello to him? -Very much so.
Hi Roberto, how are you? Everything good?
-It's like he's on the phone. -True. Nice.
He spread the word among his customers
that the book was about to be launched
and I went to this bookshop, which was a very small one.
There were ten people and it was my first presentation.
I had forgotten about it.
-This is via? -Chiaia.
On the right there is Leopoldo.
Displaying some sfogliatelle.
Do not eat.
On the left there is Paco, the artisan granita.
-Are you Paco? -Yes, tell me.
Are they good?
Thanks! You should feed me.
-Shouldn't I mix everything? -No.
-Is it good? -It's good. Thanks.
-Bye. -I have to pay.
No, you can go.
You are really lucky tonight.
That guy never does any good.
There it is.
I lived there.
That's right.
The garbage is still here.
That should be the fruit seller.
Do you remember that Roberto Saviano lived here?
Roberto Saviano?
No, I don't know, I have recently moved here.
-I remember him. -Was it him?
It is fair that they cannot remember me.
I think he's been there for ages. I think so.
-I remember him. -Do you remember him?
Yes, Saviano. -When he was still a temp journalist?
Yes, I remember him.
-Did you know each other? -No, but I remember him.
Then things changed.
Are you talking about Saviano the grocer?
-I can't believe it! -Saviano the grocer rules.
It seems like you wrote it.
No, though of course I made the most of it.
This is the fishmonger.
-Do you remember when Saviano lived here? -No, I can't remember.
I read the book and watched the movie.
He was really brave, it ain't easy at all.
How nice.
I'll try with the grocer.
Do you remember when Roberto Saviano lived here? The journalist?
Here? I can't remember.
Saviano the grocer, too.
Saviano the grocer is more famous than the journalist here.
-Have you lived here for long? -No, I am not from here.
I came to work here few days ago.
I'm afraid he distanced himself from you.
I didn't know this. If you want me to tell you that he bought stuff here.
Wine seller.
-Don't you remember him? -No, sorry.
You could have bought a bottle of wine, Roberto.
-Did you never buy wine? -Sure, and water, too.
-Maybe he can't remember. -I wasn't known, I was nobody.
This is where you lived.
That's right.
What shall I tell them?
-Yes? -Advertising!
-They opened the door! -Yes.
The tone is important.
Blimey! Blimey!
Wow!
It's this one. This one.
They are not in. Anyway, this was the front door.
True.
This is the Archeological Museum.
And this is Venus Callipyge.
Roberto,
they wanted 2000 euros to allow me to film the Venus Callipyge.
She is beautiful, but 2000 euros
is a bit too much.
I will go without my camera.
This is her back. Oh, well!
She is beautiful.
The most beautiful behind in the history of humanity... it is true.
There it is. Look how wonderful it is.
The most beautiful gulf in the world.
-After the gulf of Mondello. -No, Mondello comes next.
Naples first.
The seagull who understood it all.
There they are.
-I have a friend who is from Naples. -Who is this friend of yours?
His name is Roberto.
He told me he came here very often because you prepare great food
and particularly the fish fry. Well, it is Roberto Saviano.
Pif, are you making it all up to get a fish fry for free?
If I learnt that you support Juventus F.C.
You and your camera will end up in the sea.
There it is.
I'm in heaven.
Roberto, thanks!
What a friend I am, right?
How many memories this is bringing up.
I'm only doing it for you.
-Can you hear the crunchy noise? -The sacred fish fry.
This is a sacred fish fry.
I decided I want to move here.
-In Naples? -No, here.
I have to tell you.
When I was a kid, I was a Juventus fan.
They are not called Juventus fans, they are called snitches.
This is via Monte Rosa, Scampia neighbourhood,
and this is the GRIDAS center.
-Hello! -Good morning!
-Mrs. Mirella? -I am Mirella, yes.
I don't know if you remember.
Nice to meet you.
-Let's go in. -Yes.
We have always demonstrated against bad things.
Look at those beautiful murals.
This is where it all started.
Do you remember when Roberto Saviano came here to present his book?
Of course.
We “christened” Roberto Saviano.
True. The book had already been launched.
Do you want to send a message to Roberto?
Roberto, I love him very much.
Wonderful! She's wonderful.
In my boy's head, I really felt at the center of the universe.
Giordano Bruno and Tommaso D'Aquino studied at the San Domenico
I didn't feel I was in an isolated corner,
like I belonged to a lesser Italy.
I felt at the center and all that stuff nourished me.
If a boy or a girl was always able to connect not just with their time
but with everything that happened before,
they would feel part of a wonderful mosaic.
They would feel less lonely, or at least this is how I felt. I felt less lonely.
I feel more lonely now.
Speaking of loneliness,
I think about something that Roberto told me
during one of our lively car rides.
There is a beautiful quote from Leopardi,
“Human beings don't hate evil or those who make it, but those who name it.”
And this is what many people think about him.
Do you like him?
He writes well, but only he knows the truth.
-What do you mean? -Only he knows if what he writes is true.
Are you saying it is not true?
Something might be true,
but would the Camorra men leave him alive?
Do you like Saviano?
Maybe for its commitment,
but he says things that more or less everyone knows here.
He shouldn't always say the same things on television!
That's enough, change subject.
We know we live in a city where things don't go too well.
There must be a reason why chocolate,
custard and stracciatella have always existed.
Don't they do the ginger flavour?
What sort of flavour is ginger?
Roberto cannot even eat a ginger ice cream
because even the simplest things
become extremely complicated for him.
For instance,
on those rare occasions when he goes back to Naples, this is how he lives.
Roberto never enters a room first
and he is always preceded by his security men who check everything.
-Is this a barrack? -Yes, the living quarters of a barrack.
You check your own home too.
We check everything. Mostly.
I'll close the door, you never know.
Shall I lock it?
I am not sure if you saw that one of my men
was looking at that closed door.
After a while they told him that it was just the bathroom
and he could check.
This is the exact moment.
He was looking at it because he was bothered by the closed door.
He couldn't help it.
He knew there was nothing, but still...
These are strange worlds.
Is this my bed?
They have the stuff they find...
I think so, at least...
In former hotels.
I am sure this comes from a library or something like that.
This is what keeps me company whenever.
CARABINIERI REGIONAL COMMAND "CAMPANIA" NAPLES
“Faithful through the centuries”, it is the Carabinieri's motto.
Here there are all the phone numbers.
The legion Commander, the duty officer.
It is fun because instead of...
In hotels one opens... and here it's like this.
Look here, it is great.
Spiritual service.
What is it? A priest?
Yes, you confess your difficult times and anxious moments.
I would need it.
-Is this the usual standard. -Usually they are smaller.
They were generous.
The TV is really modern! Usually they have the big boxes.
The stereo must be a donation.
Does the stereo have the tape player?
It is a tape player.
No! A tape player.
It has the CD player too, though.
There are always nail clippers in all drawers. Always.
I wanted to check if there were some here too.
Why?
Because I guess that officers often sleep here.
Hand care is essential.
Always. Sometimes I also find a Bible, but there isn't one here.
No, it is beautiful.
If you wanted to meet a friend could you invite them here?
-No. -No?
I can invite them downstairs. This is where I meet people.
There are some circumstances where they allow me to do it,
in others it is more difficult.
Then it depends, I can invite people in places where I stay for a while.
-I am letting the General know. -Are you calling the General?
Yes. When you arrive somewhere
you call your mum to tell her that everything is okay.
I call the General.
To tell him that everything is okay. Thank you.
All the desks are like this.
Most of the pages I wrote have been written on desks like this one.
You feel you are always in a sort of outpost.
At the beginning this precariousness,
these constant moves made me feel like...
I was following a battle strategy.
Then you get fed up with it, because it drains you.
Your home becomes your backpack,
all my books are scattered in my relatives' house.
Here there are the blankets.
Is this the fridge?
It is the fridge, but it's empty.
What if you were hungry?
It's dinner time. Going out is obviously complicated.
It would be great if we could... Ask them to get a pizza for us.
Once in Naples...
We should see if there is one nearby.
Can you go out?
No.
This is Naples.
Yes, it is the entire gulf.
It is the gulf!
Blimey!
The only thing we can do is ask them if someone can deliver us a pizza.
While waiting for the pizza,
Roberto tells me what happens when he watches trials.
When I enter the courtrooms,
one might think I am insulted or attacked...
Not at all. They make this gesture.
Like, why don't you remove that hair in the middle?
You act like an internationally acclaimed writer
and you don't remove eyebrows hair.
For them it is shameful.
An objective sign of carelessness.
One might think that they are rough, country people.
It is not true. New generations are obsessed by their looks
they always have a tan.
And so, they make this gesture.
Maybe the mythical pizzas have arrived.
-Enjoy it! -Thanks.
I haven't eaten a pizza in Naples for...
Another world.
It seems like a party.
When was the last time you went to a party?
In Italy.
It wasn't in Italy, I think it was in Cannes.
-For Gomorrah? -Yes, and then in the US. I went there...
With my fake identity.
-Don't you travel using your name? -No.
They change my name every six-eight months.
Does it still happen to you
to be looked at like you were an informant at the US border?
Of course.
They are not used to journalists under police protection.
Yes, they are not used at all.
I arrive there, they see my name, don't recognize me,
but in my form it says “personality under protection”.
“Please, come”. They take me?
Sometimes they also try to put handcuffs on me.
Those horrible plastic handcuffs.
They handcuffed me once, because they thought I was a runaway informant.
They take me and put me in a room... I am always quiet
because they get angry whatever I say.
I try. I start telling them that I am a writer, that I got there with a visa...
And I always let them know in advance.
Every time, the person who has to let them know is late... always like this.
So, I stay for four hours in their offices, sometimes two hours,
never less than two hours
and then they come and pick me up, apologize and even offer me a ride.
It was fun, I told you, that time I tried to...
after three hours I was there with drug dealers
and people who had traveled through Syria and were stopped for this.
At one point I told this police officer that I am a writer.
She looked at me angrily and said:
“Yeah, right, with that face. That's a nice story.”
I insisted and told her to Google my name.
She didn't do it.
I made this gesture every time I saw her.
She googles my name and finally decides to call her supervisor
because she didn't want to disturb him, we landed very early in the morning.
Her supervisor arrives, apologizes and... A disaster!
Every country assigns me some protection with their police.
I have something important to ask you. Do you snore?
They told me that when...
They told me I do. My security people told me that.
Your security people? How do they know?
I sleep in the car.
Sometimes I also washed myself in the car.
How? Did you use tissues? How did you do it?
No. Water...
-You brushed your teeth. -You brush and then spit outside.
Oh, well. Good night, then.
Good night.
Anyway, I can confirm it. Roberto Saviano snores.
There are times when Roberto's loneliness completely disappears.
For instance,
like that time when he presented his book ZeroZeroZero in Naples.
Roberto hadn't met his fellow Neapolitans since Gomorrah's launch.
I have been here since 3:30 p.m.
-Like a concert. -This is better, though.
You come back to your city after seven years. Fear, bravery?
Anxiety.
I am still tempted to cancel everything.
Come up with an excuse.
But I have to, I have to.
Are you anxious?
Good evening,
I am Carlo Feltrinelli.
Two years ago I promised
to the author of Gomorrah
that one day we were going to bring him back
in his city's square.
We were going to bring him back to Naples.
I am extremely happy
I was able to keep this promise.
So?
-Everything okay? -Yes.
Don't worry, don't worry.
Defend me, defend me.
Roberto Saviano!
WELCOME BACK ROBERTO
Thank you.
I am breathless!
NAPLES EMBRACES SAVIANO
WELCOME BACK HOME ROBERTO
He sowed, he made a long trip, but he is here again.
Welcome back!
Thank you.
I have often imagined this moment
I must confess that until the very end,
when I was downstairs
I tried to...
find an excuse to say no, say that I was unwell.
In these past few years I suffered a lot for this thing of being
perceived like another plague of this land.
So, I was not going to relieve Naples from something
but I was going to place a burden on it.
As they taught me, it is true that traveling the world.
Is beautiful, but not as beautiful as returning home.
Thank you.
After the adrenaline rush,
the book signing phase starts.
The readers, once their bags have been searched,
queue up to have a signed copy.
To a future colleague.
Someone, in addition to the signed copy,
wants to give him a gift, tell him something
or even have a physical contact with Roberto.
Can I give you something?
-Hello! -Welcome back!
Thanks for everything you write and do.
If only you knew how much I admire you.
Thanks, Roberto, for everything you do for us.
It's impossible not to listen to you.
I wanted to give you this.
I give it to you with all my heart.
My degree dissertation.
Hold on!
We love you.
I just wanted to say thank you!
-She was my flatmate. -Wow!
Thanks for everything.
I always defend you. I have rows with people.
The scent of your words spread.
It is an honor.
We met in Rome and Turin.
Bye Roberto.
This is something for you.
Welcome back home!
We are the last ones, we closed. It's over!
I was born and bred in Palermo,
and in Palermo there is the Mafia.
If the mafia did not manage to take complete control of the city,
if we have had a glimpse of civilization and hope,
it is thanks to a group of people who fought against them.
Do you know why these people upset me?
Because they were not saints,
they were made of flesh and bones like me.
They had virtues and flaws, just like me.
I often meet people under police protection
because they are targets for the Mafia
and these people can be self-centered, paranoid, boring, vain,
obsessed with sex, stubborn, laggard,
selfish, pretentious, ungrateful, arseholes.
So, these people might have some or all the flaws I have.
And this is what upsets me. They are exactly like me.
I could have done what they did.
My conscience would be much clearer if they had been saints.
Despite being like me, they are those who do the dirty work in my place.
Thinking that a person in the front line in the fight against the Mafia
has to necessarily be like Saint Francis is a bit naive.
If a journalist writes about the Mafia,
I don't ask myself why he writes about the Mafia.
I don't ask myself
whether this made him more successful with the girls.
I don't ask myself whether this made him rich.
I ask myself whether what he writes is true.
I ask myself whether what he writes makes the Mafia angry,
I ask myself
whether my knowledge and conscience improved by reading him.
I am fed up of having to see a person get killed to see them appreciated.
I am naive,
but I have seen too many people despised in life
and appreciated in death.
And I will naively support all those who believe that Mafia, Camorra,
'Ndrangheta, United Sacred Crown and Stidda
should not be tolerated, but defeated.
And they put their lives at risk to do this.
I will listen to them even if they will
be self-centered, paranoid, boring vain, obsessed with sex,
stubborn, laggard, selfish, pretentious ungrateful and arseholes.
Do you see this? It is an ice cream cone.
Chocolate, custard and cream.
The Italian people protect Roberto Saviano with a police escort
to let him write what he wants and go and eat an ice cream
whenever and wherever he likes.
Anytime Roberto will renounce to eat an ice cream cone like this
it will be a defeat for us and a victory for the Camorra.
Unless he orders a lilac flavored ice cream.
In that case, it would be a defeat for us all
because the lilac flavored ice cream is clearly bullshit.
THE FIRST-LEVEL VERDICT OF THE TRIAL FOR THE THREATS
TO ROBERTO SAVIANO AND THE JOURNALIST ROSARIA CAPACCHIONE
WAS NULLIFIED BY THE COURT OF APPEAL IN NAPLES
FOR LACK OF TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION.
THE TRIAL HAS TO BE REDONE:
THE CAMORRA BOSSES FRANCESCO BIDOGNETTI AND ANTONIO IOVINE
AND THEIR LAWYERS, CARMINE D'ANIELLO AND MICHELE SANTONASTASO,
WILL HAVE TO STAND TRIAL AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME IN THE ROME TRIBUNAL.
Subtitle translation by Angela Di Mauro