History you don't know

Raul 2021-10-18 09:30:39

Martin's works often show neglected content from the mainstream historical perspective, which I like very much, because this part that is often neglected allows us to see the truth, it is more comprehensive and more relevant. This is true of "New York Gangs," and so is "Closed Island."
Of course this is only one aspect of the movie, not all.
American democracy was not built in a day. In the film, what we see is the contradiction between immigrants belonging to different ethnic groups. At that time, the United States was still at the stage of open immigration. Although the government and laws adopted lenient policies on immigrants, it did not mean that they came to the United States. You will receive a welcome. People form gangs according to their ethnic groups, and they are all different. People are unable or unaware of resorting to the law and have to join gangs. This is one of the reasons why these gangs continue.
In the United States at that time, national authority was still relatively weak, and national authority meant the state's management of the people. Low state authority means that the state is unable to manage society. The consequence is social chaos, gangs, and personal life and property cannot be guaranteed. The authority of the United States officially rose from the Civil War and reached a high level by President Theodore Roosevelt.
In the movie, we can see that the police are controlled by gang leaders, and the Tamuni family uses gangs to control the municipality. The phenomenon of racial discrimination is serious. The butchers hand the parliamentarians. Even the last gang fight is for revenge, and the fight itself means this. Is the only way to solve the problem. The authority of the state and law is not reflected in these people.
The most exciting part of this movie is the ending, which is very meaningful. The gang rage was finally suppressed by the government. The individual's understanding is that this kind of personal grievances and group grievances were eventually crushed by the international machine. Social turmoil and chaos were eventually replaced by national authority, and the United States began to embark on the path of modern society.

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Extended Reading
  • Alysha 2022-03-24 09:01:11

    Archive 2013.9.22.7pm The United States started on the streets. Native and foreign ethnic groups, Protestants and Catholics, Irish and black Chinese, in a fusion of fires, in the context of immigration and the Civil War, forged New York (U.S. ). The scene of the riot pays tribute to the battleship Potemkin (stone lion, gun forest, ship cannon). The emotion of killing a father and an enemy is similar to Shakespeare or Zhao's orphan, and Hugo's "The Laughing Man." Martin's "Once Upon a Time in America."

  • Teagan 2021-10-20 19:00:48

    The ambition is too great, and the interleaving of the historical background enriches the transmission of the social and political connotation under the gang type form of the film, but it damages the creation of the character image. But I have to say that there are a few scenes that are moving, such as the assassinations and performances in the Chinese Theater, but as a whole they failed to fulfill Martin's high expectations.

Gangs of New York quotes

  • [speaking of Bill the Butcher]

    Jenny: When I was twelve years old, my mother was dead, and I was livin' in a doorway. He took me in. Took care of me, in his way. After they cut out the baby... well, he doesn't fancy girls that's scarred up. But you might as well know in your own mind that he never laid a hand on me until I asked him to.

  • [as a man is about to be hung]

    Bill: That's a fine locket. I'll give you a dollar for it.

    Arthur: It was me mother's...

    Bill: Dollar and a half?

    Arthur: Done.