《Gangs Of New York》　纽约黑帮　纽约城的古老风貌

No.096　《Gangs Of New York》　纽约黑帮　纽约城的古老风貌

英文导读

Gangs of New York is a 2002 American historical drama film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City, directed by Martin Scorsese, and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 non-fiction book, The Gangs of New York. It was made in Cinecittà, Rome, distributed by Miramax Films.

The violent rise of gangland power in New York City at a time of massive political corruption and the city's evolution into a cultural melting pot set the stage for this lavish historical epic, which director Martin Scorsese finally brought to the screen almost 30 years after he first began to plan the project. In 1846, as waves of Irish immigrants poured into the New York neighborhood of Five Points, a number of citizens of British and Dutch heritage who were born in the United States began making an open display of their resentment toward the new arrivals. William Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), better known as "Bill the Butcher" for his deadly skill with a knife, bands his fellow "Native Americans" into a gang to take on the Irish immigrants; the immigrants in turn form a gang of their own, "The Dead Rabbits," organized by Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson). After an especially bloody clash between the Natives and the Rabbits leaves Vallon dead, his son goes missing; the boy ends up in a brutal reform school before returning to the Five Points in 1862 as Amsterdam (Leonardo DiCaprio). Now a strapping adult who has learned how to fight, Amsterdam has come to seek vengeance against Bill the Butcher, whose underworld control of the Five Points through violence and intimidation dovetails with the open corruption of New York politician "Boss" Tweed (Jim Broadbent). Amsterdam gradually penetrates Bill the Butcher's inner circle, and he soon becomes his trusted assistant. Amsterdam also finds himself falling for Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz), a beautiful but street-smart thief who was once involved with Bill. Amsterdam is learning a great deal from Bill, but before he can turn the tables on the man who killed his father, Amsterdam's true identity is exposed, even though he has concealed it from nearly everyone, including Jenny.

The film made $77,812,000 in Canada and the United States. It took in $23,763,699 in Japan and $16,358,580 in the United Kingdom. Worldwide the film grossed a total of $193,772,504.

Reviews of the eventual release in 2002 were generally positive, with Daniel-Day Lewis' performance receiving the most praise by critics —the review aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes reporting 75% of the 202 reviews that they tallied were favorable. The RT Critical Consensus reads, "Though flawed, the sprawling, messy Gangs of New York is redeemed by impressive production design and Day-Lewis's electrifying performance."

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Art Direction (Dante Ferretti), Best Original Song (U2 for "The Hands That Built America"), Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), Best Cinematography (Michael Ballhaus), Best Costume Design (Sandy Powell), Best Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker), Best Sound (Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, Ivan Sharrock), Best Original Screenplay (Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, Kenneth Lonergan).

获奖情况

2003年第75届奥斯卡：最佳影片提名、最佳导演提名、最佳男主角提名、最佳原创剧本提名。

影片信息

导演：马丁·斯科塞斯

编剧：杰伊·考克斯、斯蒂文·泽里安

主演：莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥、丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯、卡梅隆·迪亚茨

类型：剧情、历史、犯罪

制片国家（地区）：美国、意大利

上映日期：2002-12-20（美国）

片长：167分钟

又名：《纽约风云》

剧情简介

剧中，纽约的黑帮主要由意大利裔的瓦龙领导的意大利派和爱尔兰裔的比尔（丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯饰）领导的爱尔兰派组成。瓦龙被冷血凶残、杀人不眨眼的屠夫“比尔”暗杀，其子阿姆斯特朗（莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥饰）被送进监牢。

怀着强烈的复仇愿望，阿姆斯特朗熬过了10年牢狱之苦。在复仇中，结识了女贼珍妮·埃佛迪安（卡梅隆·迪亚兹），她帮他接近比尔。为了复仇，阿姆斯特朗隐姓埋名加入了比尔领导的爱尔兰派黑帮，拥戴自己的杀父仇人。

随着他越接近比尔，就越发觉杀掉比尔并不能使所有受迫害的人得到解脱，因为黑帮背后还有强大的政治力量支持。于是一个单纯的为父报仇的计划，变成了追求平等与自由的集体反抗。

制作花絮

在斯科塞斯和拳击顾问的指导下，莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥和丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯曾用数月时间完善各自身手。

片中的屠夫比尔源自当时的纽约本地人比尔·普尔，普尔曾为屠夫，后来成为职业拳手。

为更好地塑造角色，扮演屠夫比尔的丹尼尔·戴-刘易斯曾跟随一名屠夫学习屠宰手艺。

片中有台词的角色多达100个，背景演员的工时总计超过22000小时。除了部分意大利人之外，剧组还招募了很多在当地驻扎的美军士兵作临时演员。

影片拍摄共耗时137天。为了让老纽约背景下的人物能够字正腔圆，剧组请来方言教练蒂姆·莫妮科教授演员19世纪曼哈顿方言和当时各种黑道行话。

斯科塞斯曾雇用一名意大利神偷向卡梅隆·迪亚茨传授扒窃技巧。

重点学习

The city's evolution into a cultural melting pot set the stage for this lavish historical epic

文中的set the stage for是英语中的一个固定搭配，它是“为…做好准备，为…创造条件，为…打下基础”的意思，比如：Fed officials have become more confident recently that they have stabilized the economy and set the stage for recovery.（美联储官员最近更加自信地认为，他们已经稳定了经济，为复苏打下了基础。）

As waves of Irish immigrants poured into the New York neighborhood of Five Points

Pour into在文中是“大量地进入，（使）川流不息地进入”的意思，比如：Letters have been pouring into the office complaining about this kind of refrigerator.（办公室连续收到大批信件抱怨这种电冰箱。）另外，它还有“（使）流进…里；把…注入…中；倒入；射入”、“把（大量钱）投进…里”、“齐射；齐发”、“充分利用”等意思，比如：The peasants poured the grain into the elevator.（农民们把谷物倒进仓里。）

单词时间

gangland[ˈɡæŋlænd] n. 黑社会；充斥盗匪的地区

corruption[kəˈrʌpʃən] n. 贪污，腐败；堕落

lavish[ˈlæviʃ] vt. 浪费；慷慨给予；滥用

resentment[riˈzentmənt] n. 愤恨，怨恨

reform[riˈfɔ:m] n. 改革，改良；改正

vengeance[ˈvendʒəns] n. 复仇；报复；报仇

intimidation[inˌtimiˈdeiʃən] n. 恐吓，威胁

penetrate[ˈpenitreit] vt. 渗透；穿透；洞察

identity[aiˈdentəti] n. 身份；同一性，一致；特性；恒等式

redeem[riˈdi:m] vt. 赎回；挽回；兑换；履行；补偿；恢复

electrifying[iˈlektrifaiiŋ] adj. 令人振奋的；惊人的