Sorry I am late to the party, but I just saw Gangs of New York.
I was mystified by the scene where four men were hanged as an object lesson for the other inhabitants of 5 corners. These men did not appear to be at all distressed that they were about to be hanged. The one who gave a speech from the gallows seemed to be play acting. I thought at first that the hanging might be a scam and that the men knew they weren’t really going to be hanged. Then they got hanged. Did these men not mind dying because they had nothing else to live for, or were they mentally deficient, or had sums of money been paid to their families, or what? What was your take on this scene?
I thought the performance by DDL was worth the price of admission. It is strange that he had not made a movie for 5 years, and had to be convinced to do this one.
Bonus Question:
What was the nationality of “Bill the Butcher.” I thought he was Irish, but looked down on the Irish that were not born in America. Is his nationality made clear?
“Bill the Butcher” was a fictional composite of several New York gang figures from the mid-19th and early-20th centuries. The character played by DDL in the movie was DEFINITELY NOT of Irish descent. Considering the ethnic background of native New Yorkers at that time, he was likely English with perhaps some Dutch.
But there was a real “Bill the Butcher”, except his real name was not “William Cutting” but “Bill Poole” (IIRC). However except for the name, most of what happened in the movie was indeed a fictional composite of several eras of gangs. See the book for the real story.
My take on the hanging was that these men had nothing much to live for, and by doing a favor to Bill the Butcher in offering their lives, they would help to take care of their families. Plus, they knew they were doomed so they went out with as little fuss as possible.
i think perhaps the confusion comes in that the actor, daniel day-lewis, who plays bill the butcher is irish. my money is that the character was several nationalities, but more importantly, could go a couple generations back of family members born in the us. so seeing all the irish coming in off the boats pissed him off…
A recent edition of Smithsonian magazine had a good article on the REAL gangs of New York. It went into some detail re: Bill the Butcher. Sorry, I don’t have an exact issue.
Actually, until about 3 days ago I had believed he was Irish too, and then I heard on the news DDL being offered some distinctly British award or some such, so looked up his bio and got his birth details, as you see there.
Never thought to look further and see if he had actually chosen to become an irish citizen.
I thought that scene was showing how cheap life was in that area and how there was so much death and violence around it coarsened everybody including the condemned. It also showed how Tweed was no different than Cutting in his use of killing to advance himself.
William Cutting sounds like an English name to me.
I also thought it was strange during the hanging scene when “Bill The Butcher” haggled with one of the condemned over a locket. They settled on $1.50. Who do you think ended up with this money - Bill’s henchmen or the hanged man’s family?
I agree with those who stated that Bill’s character was not Irish. I just found it strange that he hung around with so many of them if he hated the Irish so much. I think he was most probably only of Dutch descent after doing a bit more researching. He had a grudge against “the British” because of his father’s death. You usually do not refer to your own nationality in a third person sort of way. Also I got this quote from the Herald newspaper in the UK -** “The xenophobic New York locals, called nativists, many of Dutch origin themselves, hated the Irish most of all and even sided with blacks in preference (though there is no real black presence in the film).”**
The hanging scene features a person who speaks with the pronouned “Scouse Accent” of the people from Liverpool, England. A second person, who helps Di Capprio rob the burnt out building also does the same. The film is set in New York during the 1850s , However, the “Scouse Accent” a mixture of Irish Welsh North country English, did not come into being until the 1880s.
Not sure why all these zombie threads are getting posted to. Thought this one looked interesting and was surprised to see I posted it. Who woulda thunk it, don’t remember it at all.
I figured, like most characters in the story, these men are career criminals who live under the shadow of the gallows every day. When it happens, it’s like natural causes except you know you deserve it. What’s the big deal?
There’s probably no small amount of bravado involved as well. I can’t imagine that career criminals wouldn’t have any concern for their posthumous reputation, especially considering that personal reputation seems to be so important in that crowd.
